July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
Clans, Pacts, and Politics in Central Asia
This region’s five republics have just lived through a remarkable first decade of independence that raises questions about “preconditions”-based theories of democratization.
2777 Results
Democracy in Retrograde pdf download
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
A New Look at Federalism: Italy Decentralizes
Italy has long mixed great local and regional diversity with a unitary approach to governance. In October 2001, however, Italian voters approved a series of changes to their country’s Constitution that could mark a decisive turn toward federalism.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
Democracy as a Starting Point
Democracy by itself does not put an end to injustice or inequality, but it establishes the most favorable conditions for making progress in the struggle to achieve a just society.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Arabs and Democracy: Illusions of Change
Many observers regarded 1999 as a year of progress for democracy in the Arab world. There is reason to doubt, however, whether any meaningful change has really occurred.
January 1994, Volume 5, Issue 1
The Axis Powers 50 Years Later: Germany—A New “Wall in the Mind”?
Read the full essay here.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Indonesia’s 2014 Elections: How Jokowi Won and Democracy Survived
Indonesians came close to electing as their new president a populist challenger promising to restore the country’s predemocratic order. Democracy prevailed in the end, but its continued vulnerability was exposed.
April 2013, Volume 24, Issue 2
Why Greece Failed
Greece was an early success story of the “third wave,” but since the 2008 financial crisis, it has become a poster child for the pains of austerity and unrest. Its troubles at one level are fiscal and economic, but there is a political dimension that may be even more critical.
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
Indonesia: Jokowi Sidelines Democracy
Indonesia’s president claims he is curbing democracy today to save it later. If he is wrong about his long-term wager, democratic institutions may not survive.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
An Illiberal India?
The country’s hold on electoral democracy is firm, but its claim still to be a liberal democracy is increasingly dubious.
July 2017, Volume 28, Issue 3
The Rise of Referendums: Demystifying Direct Democracy
Plebiscites have grown less common in recent decades in authoritarian and semi-authoritarian countries, even as the use of referendums in democracies has expanded. Despite their many shortcomings, referendums are, on balance, a mechanism for strengthening democracy.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
External Influence and Democratization: Structure vs. Choice
Linkage and leverage largely reflect long-term structural factors, and only in certain situations can they be affected by policy choices.
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
The Opening in Burma: The Need for a Political Pact
The hardest work of the transition—negotiating political pacts—has not yet begun. Burma’s democrats must help to forge a system of mutual security that can allow democratization to proceed.
January 2009, Volume 20, Issue 1
Hong Kong’s Democrats Hold Their Own
A decade after the handover of their city to China, Hong Kong’s “pandemocrats” remain able to stand their ground at the ballot box.
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
Turkey’s AKP: A Model “Muslim-Democratic” Party?
Is the Islamic-oriented party that has ruled since 2002 really the harbinger of 'Muslim democracy,' or is it something more familiar in Turkish politics: a hierarchical group none too closely in touch with society and overly focused on one man?
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
Debate: The Reality of Muslim Exceptionalism
The notion that the Muslim world as a whole does not suffer from a deficit in terms of competitive democracy is apealing, but rests on evidence and assumptions that cannot withstand critical scrutiny.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
An “Arab” More Than “Muslim” Democracy Gap
Gauging electoral competitiveness relative to economic development reveals not only that Arab countries “underperform” but, strikingly, that non-Arab Muslim-majority countries tend to “overperform.”
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
The New Competitive Authoritarianism
In recent years competitive authoritarianism has emerged in some countries with relatively strong democratic traditions and institutions.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
India’s New Minority Politics
The ruling BJP has long sought to sideline Indian Muslims. But even the opposition is opting to exclude them politically. Muslims’ chances at greater representation remain dim.
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
Why the Future Is Democratic
The swelling pessimism about democracy’s future is unwarranted. Values focused on human freedom are spreading throughout the world, and suggest that the future of self-government is actually quite bright.
Winter 1990, Volume 1, Issue 1
Why the “Journal of Democracy”
The Journal of Democracy seeks to bridge some of these gaps. We hope that it will help to unify what is becoming a worldwide democratic movement. But like genuine democracy itself, the journal will be pluralistic. Its pages will be open to a wide variety of perspectives and shades of opinion, and it will seek…