July 2020, Volume 31, Issue 3
The Prince
A review of MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman, by Ben Hubbard.
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Why Bolivia’s Election Matters So Much
The small South American country has become a strategic foothold for authoritarian powers. Its election is hugely important for the future of democracy across the region.
Viktor Orbán’s Newest Tool for Crushing Dissent
He has created a new office with massive investigatory powers that are vaguely defined and leave everyone on edge. In other words, it’s classic Orbán.
Standing Up to Africa’s Juntas
A string of Kremlin-backed military coups have brought a collection of juntas to power. The West should resist calls to placate them, and instead stick to its values and push for a return to civilian rule.
Why TikTok Is a Threat to Democracy
The popular Chinese-owned app is helping Beijing collect people’s data everywhere, and giving it control over powerful tools that can shape their worldview. | Aynne Kokas
July 2012, Volume 23, Issue 3
African Elections: Two Divergent Trends
Regular elections have become a fixture of political life throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but there are now “two Africas” in this regard: one where elections bring the blessings of greater political openness and competition, and another where elections are, in effect, one more tool that authoritarians use to retain power.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Latin America’s Lost Illusions: Decentralization and Political Parties
Decentralization, heralded as a means of increasing state efficiency and improving representation, has fragmented Latin America’s already weak party systems
October 2025, Volume 36, Issue 4
Why Bitcoin Is Freedom Money
Today, governments can see who buys what, who pays whom, and who donates to which cause. But they cannot easily trace or confiscate Bitcoin. The digital currency offers a lifeline to democratic movements operating in the most repressive places.
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
Burma: The Generals Strike Back
The military could not bear Aung San Suu Kyi’s enduring popularity and her party’s continued success at the polls. But the generals may have miscalculated how much the people detest them.
July 1998, Volume 9, Issue 3
India Defies the Odds: Why Democracy Survives
India has long baffled theorists of democracy. Democratic theory holds that poverty, widespread illiteracy, and a deeply hierarchical social structure are inhospitable conditions for the functioning of democracy. Yet except for 18 months in 1975-77, India has maintained its democratic institutions ever since it became independent of Britain in 1947. Over those five decades, there…
Ecuador’s Democratic Breakdown
The small Latin American country was a brief democratic bright spot. But it appears to have fallen victim to a clash between populists and anti-populists, without a democrat in sight.
January 1993, Volume 4, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Organization of American States resolutions on the “presidential coup” in Peru; the report of the Argentinian National Commission of Disappeared Persons.
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 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2
Tunisia’s Transition and the Twin Tolerations
Of all the “Arab Spring” countries, so far only Tunisia has managed to make a transition to democracy. Tunisians now have a chance to show the world a new example of how religion, society, and the state can relate to one another under democratic conditions.
July 2011, Volume 22, Issue 3
Comparing Latin Democracies
A review of The Quality of Democracy in Latin America, edited by Daniel H. Levine and José E. Molina.
July 2010, Volume 21, Issue 3
Acts of Resistance in China
A review of China's Long March to Freedom: Grassroots Modernization by Kate Zhou.
October 1996, Volume 7, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: testimony delivered at South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; remarks by National Endowment for Democracy president Carl Gershman; remarks delivered at a reception marking the opening of Mongolia’s new parliament.
October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4
Making Sense of the EU: The Challenge for Democracy
The EU was founded partly for the purpose of strengthening democracy, but it has been created in a way that is intrinsically not democratic.
October 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4
Southeast Asia’s Troubling Elections: Democratic Demolition in Thailand
The military junta that seized power in 2014 finally organized an election in 2019, but with the goal of preventing rather than facilitating a return to civilian rule.