2135 Results

Electoral Reform Society charter 2025 'good governance charter'

April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2

Azerbaijan’s Frustrating Elections

The 2005 elections were marked by massive fraud, but the democratic world mostly looked the other way. Azerbaijani society remains receptive to democracy, but the regime clearly has other plans—and will soon have massive oil wealth to fund them.

July 1998, Volume 9, Issue 3

Octavio Paz (1914-1998)

The death of Mexican poet and essayist Octavio Paz on April 20 was (in the words of Mexico’s president Ernesto Zedillo) “an irreplaceable loss for contemporary thought and culture—not just for Latin America but for the entire world.” Born in Mexico City on 31 March 1914, Paz published his first book of poetry while still…

October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4

Trading Democracy for Governance

Majorities across the globe claim to support democratic rule, but their definitions of it vary widely. A look at where publics are willing to exchange their democratic principles for better results—and where they will not.

July 2023, Volume 34, Issue 3

Why Israeli Democracy Is in Crisis

When Israel’s new government introduced proposals that threatened the judiciary’s independence, the country erupted in protest. These tensions will not soon end. Likud, once a center-right party, is now as populist as the European far right.

January 2022, Volume 33, Issue 1

Coup in Tunisia: Transition Arrested

Tunisia’s once-promising democratic transition had long failed to de-liver on its promises. It was a crisis waiting to be exploited. Kais Saied is simply the man who set it aflame.

October 2018, Volume 29, Issue 4

Why National Identity Matters

From enhancing physical security to encouraging mutual trust, an inclusive sense of national identity continues to be crucial to the flourishing of modern states.

April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2

Macedonia: A New Beginning?

This small Balkan country has been plagued with crises of identity both internal and external. But recent developments, including a democratic change of government via the ballot box, have created an opportunity to find a better path. 

January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1

What Can Constitutions Do? The Afghan Case

January 2014 marks the tenth anniversary of Afghanistan’s constitution. In what areas has it succeeded or failed? Judging by its achievements with respect to four midrange goals, the document has a record that is decidedly mixed.

July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3

Has the Northern Ireland Problem Been Solved?

The 1998 Good Friday Agreement provided a framework for peace and democracy in Northern Ireland. But it was a particular set of internal circumstances that allowed for the pact’s successful implementation.

April 2024, Volume 35, Issue 2

Documents on Democracy

Yulia Navalnaya’s speech after her husband’s death; Russian human-rights activist Oleg Orlov’s closing court statement; “Dictateur” by Senegalese hip-hop artist and social-justice activist Gunman Xuman; a speech from Mexico’s “March for Democracy”; a letter to Nicaraguans from the Group of 94; “120 Days in Secret Detention” by Chinese activist Li Qiaochu.

Free

July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3

South Africa After Apartheid: The First Decade

Over the ten years since its first nonracial elections in 1994, South Africa has seen its democratic order become more firmly institutionalized, even as the electoral dominance of the ANC has continued to grow.

January 2023, Volume 34, Issue 1

Italy’s Hard Truths

The government of Giorgia Meloni, the country’s first female prime minister, is popular, scary, and competent. Her far-right party also enjoys greater democratic legitimacy than any other Italian party in a long time.

Venezuela’s Lost Year

A year ago Nicolás Maduro stole Venezuela’s election and entrenched his power by jailing and killing those who opposed him. But the world’s democracies don’t need to sit on the sidelines. Here is how they can raise the costs for Maduro.

April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: Tawakkol Karman's acceptance speech for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize; a statement issued by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s National Conference of Bishops on the DRC's disputed 2011 presidential election; the concluding statement of the February 22 extraordinary meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group regarding the resignation of Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed.

October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4

Election Watch

A review of recent elections in Congo (Kinshasa), Dominican Republic, Gambia, Guyana, Kuwait, Macedonia, Mexico, Montenegro, Sao Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Slovakia, Yemen, and Zambia.

April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2

Election Watch

Reports on elections in Bulgaria, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Niger, Uzbekistan.