October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
Authoritarianism Goes Global (II): The Leninist Roots of Civil Society Repression
East European communists inherited the Bolshevik obsession with repressing any genuinely independent civil society groups.
2135 Results
Electoral Reform Society charter 2025 'good governance charter'
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Arabs and Democracy: The Awakening of Civil Society
While despotic Arab regimes may seem stable, change is brewing beneath the surface. A new era is emerging in which the state will be forced to retreat before a vibrant civil society.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
Political Competition and Economic Growth
Under many nondemocratic systems, good policy is bad politics, and bad policy helps leaders stay in office. The result is poorer performance in terms of economic growth.
July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
Globalization and Self-Government
Until now, globalization and democratization have been mutually reinforcing, but in the future globalization may pose serious challenges for democracy.
April 1997, Volume 8, Issue 2
Hong Kong, Singapore, and “Asian Values”: Governance That Works
Read the full essay here.
July 1993, Volume 4, Issue 3
International Organizations & Democracy: The OAS and Democratic Governance
Read the full essay here.
How the World’s Most Popular Dictator Wins
El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele may be overwhelmingly popular, but he wasn’t going to let his electoral ambitions hinge on being well-liked. Instead, he rigged the playing field before the first vote was cast.
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
Tanzania: The Roots of Repression
While many blamed President John Magufuli for throwing the country off its democratizing track, the truth is that the party that has ruled Tanzania for six decades has always been authoritarian.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
China: From Tiananmen to Neo-Stalinism
To grasp why post-Mao China’s remarkable economic development has not aided democracy, we must look first at the policies of top Chinese leaders.
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
A “Left Turn” in Latin America? The Urgent Need for Labor Law Reform
Latin America must find a way to include its newly urbanized informal workers in more regular channels of economic and political participation. Updating outmoded labor laws is a key to accomplishing this task.
July 2006, Volume 17, Issue 3
Reforming Intelligence: South Africa After Apartheid
On the surface, intelligence-sector reform since the fall of apartheid has been a model of success, but the growing politicization of security-sector forces by the ruling ANC may pose a threat to the consolidation of South Africa's young democracy.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
Getting to Arab Democracy: The Promise of Pacts
Strategies based on transition pacts that reduce rulers' risks and cushion their retreat from total power may be the most promising route to democracy in the Arab world.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
What Is Liberal Islam?: The Elusive Reformation
An “Islamic Reformation” is not a necessary condition for the emergence of democracy in the Muslim world; what is most needed is a political reformation.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Bhutan, Bulgaria, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Malaysia, Montenegro, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, and Venezuela.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Why Ballot Secrecy Still Matters
The norm of ballot secrecy, although widely accepted in principle, is often downplayed and loosely defined in practice. As policy makers weigh new electoral options such as postal and internet voting, a better understanding is needed of secrecy’s many aspects and requirements.
October 2017, Volume 28, Issue 4
Elections in the Hardest Places: The Case of Somalia
Is pressing a troubled, intensely fragile “postconflict” country to hold elections a good idea? Somalia did so in late 2016 and early 2017, and the process was not pretty. But was it better than the alternative?
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Kenya’s 2013 Elections: Technology Is Not Democracy
In an effort to avoid repeating the 2007 electoral debacle, Kenya’s election commission turned to technology, but its high-tech voter-registration and vote-count processes fell short. Its experience has important lessons both for emerging democracies and for international donors.
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Angola, Egypt, Hong Kong, Libya, Mexico, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Senegal, and Timor-Leste.
October 2018, Volume 29, Issue 4
Understanding Authoritarian Regionalism
Taking advantage of broad global respect for regionalism, authoritarian regimes are using their own regional organizations to bolster fellow autocracies. These groupings offer a mechanism for lending legitimacy, redistributing resources, and insulating members from democratic influences.