October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Societal Accountability in Latin America
Recent studies of democracy in Latin America overlook the role of civil society as an agent of accountability.
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Democracy in Retrograde pdf download
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
Electoral Reform and Stability in Uruguay
In the November 1999 presidential election, Uruguayans reaffirmed their strong commitment to democracy, while adjusting to a set of constitutional reforms that profoundly altered the electoral system.
July 1992, Volume 3, Issue 3
India: Liberalism vs. Nationalism
A review of Democracy and Discontent: India’s Growing Crisis of Governability, by Atul Kohli and The Politics of India Since Independence, by Paul Brass.
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
What’s in a Name?
A review of What Is Populism? by Jan-Werner Müller.
July 2017, Volume 28, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Prague Appeal for Democratic Renewal. Excerpts from: the inaugural address of French president Emmanuel Macron; remarks by Chilean politician and political scientist Sergio Bitar, recipient of the inaugural Guillermo O’Donnell Democracy Award and Lecture-ship.
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
The 2004 Freedom House Survey: Worrisome Signs, Modest Shifts
Modest progress in the muslim-majority countries is complemented by mass mobilization for democracy and freedom in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia ranks as Not Free for the first time since the fall of communism.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Václav Havel’s last two addresses as president of the Czech Republic; Nicaraguan president Enrique Bolaños’s speech accepting the National Endowment for Democracy’s Democracy Service Medal; speech by Turkish Justice and Development Party chairman (now prime minister) Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; inaugural address of Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Is Small Really Beautiful? The Microstate Mistake
Tiny countries have come in for praise as miniature models of democracy, but closer examination tells a mainly more somber tale.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Do New Democracies Support Democracy? The Multilateral Dimension
When it comes to backing democracy and human rights in international forums, the behavior of the world’s six most influential rising democracies ranges from sympathetic support to borderline hostility.
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
Islamist Parties and Democracy: A Boon or a Bane for Democracy?
Read the full essay here. What role do mainstream Islamist movements play in Arab politics? With their popular messages and broad social base, would their incorporation as normal political actors be the best hope for democratization or democracy’s bane? For too long, we have tried to answer such questions solely by speculating about the true…
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Russian Democracy in Eclipse: What the Elections Tell Us
President Vladimir Putin's lopsided election victory was assisted by an unlevel electoral playing field, but elections still matter in Russia and they will make more difficult the consolidation of authoritarianism.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
Majoritarianism Without Majorities
Majoritarian nationalism is a defining feature of our time. If we are to resist ethnonationalist leaders trying to recast our societies into imagined majorities, we must revise our conception of democracy and the exclusion inherent in majority rule.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
The Authoritarian Challenge
A review of Victorious and Vulnerable: Why Democracy Won in the 20th Century and How It Is Still Imperiled by Azar Gat.
April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2
Václav Havel (1936–2011)
A tribute to Václav Havel—one of the most revered democratic leaders and thinkers of our time—who passed away on 18 December 2011. Included are a document issued by the signers of China's Charter '08 and some reflections, originally published in the Mainichi Daily News, by Aung San Suu Kyi.
October 2020, Volume 31, Issue 4
Covid vs. Democracy: South Africa’s Lockdown Misfire
South Africa’s government sought to heed expert advice with its covid lockdown, yet shortcomings in state capacity fatally undermined both the virus response and efforts to address its devastating economic toll.
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
The Modernization Trap
Populist nationalism is emerging as the main competitor to liberal democracy. But despite its current resurgence, in the long run, like other illiberal paths to modernity, it is likely to prove a dead end.
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
A New Approach to Postwar Reconstruction
As countries emerge from war and embark on recovery, the risk of corruption is high and the consequences are dire. International aid must be accompanied by an anticorruption strategy that incorporates community-driven accountability.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
Indonesia’s Approaching Elections: A Year of Voting Dangerously?
For this huge, sprawling nation in the throes of an ambiguous transition, 2004 will be a year replete with unprecedented electoral tests. In the end, leadership and results will probably count for more than rules and institutions, however carefully designed.
April 2024, Volume 35, Issue 2
Why Malawi’s Democracy Endures
Malawi is a “hard place” for democracy—its economy struggles and state capacity is weak. So how has it avoided the pitfalls that have doomed so many others?
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
The Freedom House Survey for 2020: Democracy in a Year of Crisis
The year 2020 saw the global weakening of democratic norms reinforced by authoritarian influence campaigns, crackdowns on protest movements, and the use and abuse of new powers adopted in the name of responding to the covid-19 pandemic.