January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
Power Failure?
A review of The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn’t What It Used to Be by Moisés Naím.
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2019 USDOJ USDA public service award recipient
A Shock to Guatemala’s System
Almost no one thought that an underdog political reformer could defeat Guatemala’s corrupt political machine, but Bernardo Arévalo did just that. Now comes the hard part.
Putin’s Incredible Shrinking Victory Parade
How does a Russian autocrat celebrate Victory Day while losing a war? Expect lies, myths, and propaganda. May 2022 By Olexiy Minakov Every year on May 9, Russia celebrates Victory Day to mark the 1945 triumph of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazism. The spirit of militant Russian patriotism reaches its apogee on…
July 2023, Volume 34, Issue 3
Is India Still a Democracy?
In this symposium, the Journal of Democracy brings together leading scholars of India to perform a biopsy on the state of that country’s fragile democracy, and to offer us a prognosis for its future.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
Why Ukraine Shouldn’t Negotiate with Putin
Many pundits cry for a negotiated settlement to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. But they misunderstand Vladimir Putin’s motives. The only just end to the war will be in the trenches, not at the bargaining table.
January 2019, Volume 30, Issue 1
How to Un-Rig an Election
A review of How to Rig an Election by Nic Cheeseman and Brian Klaas.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: The statement that Chinese rights activist Xu Zhiyong read at his January 22 trial for gathering a crowd to disrupt public order, for which he received a four-year prison sentence. The March 4 statement issued by former presidents Oscar Arias (Costa Rica), Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil), Ricardo Lagos (Chile), and Alejandro Toledo (Peru) on the deteriorating…
January 2017, Volume 28, Issue 1
Britain After Brexit: A Nation Divided
The referendum campaign and its aftermath have exposed fault lines between the “two Britains” that have been long in the making and that pose stark questions about national values and identity.
July 2012, Volume 23, Issue 3
The Transformation of the Arab World
The electoral triumph of Islamist parties has dampened the enthusiasm of democrats for the “Arab Spring.”
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
Xi Jinping’s Maoist Revival
Far from being a reformer, as some had hoped, President Xi Jinping has launched the most sweeping ideological campaign seen in China since Mao. Xi is mixing nationalism, Leninism, and Maoism in ways that he hopes will cement continued one-party Communist rule.
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
Turkey Divided
Events surrounding Turkey's 2007 elections reveal a country with a vibrantly democratic political sphere and a society badly split over the role of Islam in national life.
April 2024, Volume 35, Issue 2
A Reply to My Critics
A liberal society must reckon the demands of the common good, while offering what we most crave—something worth sacrificing for.
January 2024, Volume 35, Issue 1
The Real Dangers of Generative AI
Advanced AI faces twin perils: the collapse of democratic control over key state functions or the concentration of political and economic power in the hands of the few. Avoiding these risks will require new ways of governing.
January 2022, Volume 33, Issue 1
How Autocrats Undermine Media Freedom
Information is being weaponized against democracy. Democratic societies need new ways to keep media free, accurate, and authentic.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Latin America Erupts: Peru Goes Populist
Instead of ending the instability that has seen the country have four presidents in three years, Peru’s presidential election has left the country on a razor-thin edge.
October 2020, Volume 31, Issue 4
Policing the Police: U.S. and European Models
Hyperlocalized U.S. policing both upholds and corrodes democratic principles. Although some aspects of Europe’s model are nonstarters in the United States, Americans crave centralized enforcement of rules against abusive policing.
July 2020, Volume 31, Issue 3
How Taiwan Stands Up to China
No country in the world is more intensely targeted by Beijing’s influence operations than Taiwan. The lead-up to the January 2020 elections saw China putting a full-court press on the island, but Taiwanese democracy broke it.
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
What Is “Sharp Power”?
Today’s authoritarians are using “sharp power” to project their influence internationally, with the objective of limiting free expression, spreading confusion, and distorting the political environment within democracies.
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Explaining Eastern Europe: Slovakia’s Conflicting Camps
The political turmoil following a journalist’s murder in Slovakia has revealed serious dangers to the country’s democratic institutions.
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Has Liberia Turned a Corner?
The retirement of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and George Weah’s election as her successor open a new chapter for a country that has made great strides since its brutal civil war, but where progress remains tenuous.