October 2023, Volume 34, Issue 4
The Meddling Kingdom
A review of Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World, by Bethany Allen.
2886 Results
Democracy in Retrograde pdf download
April 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2
The “Power-Sharing” Trap
A review of Power Politics in Zimbabwe by Michael Bratton.
January 2016, Volume 27, Issue 1
The Quest for Good Governance: Learning from Virtuous Circles
Are the “virtuous circles” crucial to good governance always the product of long-term developments under unique historical circumstances, or can they be started or accelerated by wise policies?
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Ethnic Power Sharing: Three Big Problems
In severely divided societies, ethnic cleavages tend to produce ethnic parties and ethnic voting. Power-sharing institutions can ameliorate this problem, but attempts to establish such institutions, whether based on a consociational or a centripetal model, face formidable difficulties.
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
Islamist Parties and Democracy: Going Back to the Origins
The rise of Islamist parties poses new challenges to efforts to understand the relationship between Islam and democracy. A diverse group of authors investigates this new phenomenon and its implications for the future of democracy in the Middle East.
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
China Since Tiananmen: The Massacre’s Long Shadow
In the two decades since the Tiananmen massacre, China has enjoyed rapid economic growth and a measure of political stability. Recently, however, various forms of popular protest have been increasing. Do they represent a potentially serious threat to CCP rule?
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
The Arroyo Imbroglio in the Philippines
Asia's oldest democracy is sinking into a morass of corruption and scandal. The Philippines' president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, continues to undermine the country's democratic institutions in order to remain in power.
April 2024, Volume 35, Issue 2
Why Autocracies Fear LGBTQ+ Rights
The battle over rights for sexual minorities has divided countries into opposing camps. But autocrats are lashing out with one aim: countering the liberal international order.
January 2023, Volume 34, Issue 1
How to Sharpen a Nonviolent Movement
The record shows that movements using “dilemma actions”—creative protests that make a regime look foolish—are often more effective at undermining authoritarians. Activists should add such tactics to their toolkit.
April 2020, Volume 31, Issue 2
The Hard Truths of Brexit
The 2019 election ended years of turmoil over the United Kingdom’s relationship with the EU, but challenges to national unity and parliamentary sovereignty are only beginning to come to a head.
October 2018, Volume 29, Issue 4
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: The Lessons of Bolivia
A disconnect between Bolivia’s old party system and the country’s deeper social-cleavage structure led to a massive shift in politics there. What lessons might be drawn for other nations?
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
Kenya’s Electoral Misfire
Sophisticated technology could not keep Kenya’s August 2017 presidential election from leading to renewed ethnic tensions and a painful standoff from which the country appears only now to be emerging. What went wrong?
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
The Legacies of 1989: The Moving Ruins
Communism is gone, but while it was alive and in power it bred profound moral pathologies that still haunt the region.
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
European Disintegration? A Way Forward
The present crisis of the Euro is a near perfect example of how causal complexity, unanticipated consequences, and decisional uncertainty can have a significant and cumulative impact on regional integration. In theory, this should be the crisis that will drive the EU from economic to political integration. In practice, the outcome—at least, so far—has been…
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
Why Mexico Is Not on the Brink
Claudia Sheinbaum won Mexico’s presidency in a landslide, but celebration of her election as the country’s first female president was blunted by a deeper concern: Mexico’s deteriorating democracy. In truth, the country’s democratic institutions are highly resilient, and there is reason to be optimistic about what lies ahead.
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
Building Democracy After Conflict: Bullets, Ballots, and Poppies in Afghanistan
By mid-2003, Afghanistan appeared in danger of reverting to “failed-state” status. Happily, the resilience of the Afghans plus some policy changes by the United States and its parners have put things on the right track, though daunting challenges remain.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
The Authoritarian Origins of the Third Wave
The “third wave” of democracy started in 1974 — or so the story goes. But the crests and crashes of waves of democracy and authoritarianism have been neglected. A close look can help us understand the current moment, when democracy appears to be in retreat.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Argentina, Armenia, Belize, Benin, El Salvador, Montenegro, Nigeria, Paraguay, and Yemen.
April 1994, Volume 5, Issue 2
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Antigua, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Serbia.
January 2010, Volume 21, Issue 1
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Afghanistan, Botswana, Gabon, Honduras, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Romania, Tunisia, and Uruguay.