July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Egyptian Youth’s Digital Dissent
The military-backed regime of President al-Sisi seems secure, but study of the Egyptian internet reveals that the regime has failed to win over the young.
2135 Results
Electoral Reform Society charter 2025 'good governance charter'
January 2019, Volume 30, Issue 1
Pakistan: Voting Under Military Tutelage
With its recent electoral turnover of power, Pakistan seemingly passed a milestone of democratic consolidation. But beneath the surface, power remains where it long has been—with the military.
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?
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
Ghana: The Ebbing Power of Incumbency
Despite pre-election fears, the victory of the opposition NPP over the ruling NDC in Ghana’s December 2016 elections became the prologue to a peaceful transfer of power. This outcome suggests that the advantage of incumbency in African elections may be on the wane.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
After the Arab Spring: Do Muslims Vote Islamic Now?
Islamic political parties were not especially popular with voters in Muslim-majority countries before the Arab Spring. Has that changed?
January 2013, Volume 24, Issue 1
Mexico’s 2012 Elections: The Return of the PRI
In July voting, the PRI regained control of the presidency that it had held for seven decades prior to the year 2000. Is this a “new” PRI, or will it return to its old authoritarian ways?
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.
October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
Kenya: Back from the Brink?
After the ethnic violence that marred its 2007 presidential election, Kenya must reform its institutions to better represent its diverse polity.
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…
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
Iran’s Peculiar Election: What Should “We” Do Now?
The large number of nonvoters suggests that the movement for a free, internationally monitored referendum on the Islamic Republic’s constitution could gain widespread support. We must now work to make that so.
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.
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
Transitions from Postcommunism
What made the “color revolutions” of the early 2000s possible? There were 7 factors that allowed for these democratic breakthroughs. Today, Venezuela has 6 of them, and it may soon have the last one it needs.
How Maduro Survived
The Venezuelan dictator defied sanctions, international isolation, and massive protests. He appears to have a firmer footing than he’s had in years. Now what? | Will Freeman
Excerpts from Robin Wright’s 1996 Journal of Democracy article “Islam and Liberal Democracy: Two Visions of Reformation”
These excerpts pertain to Rachid al-Ghannouchi and the challenge of blending Islam and democracy.
October 3, 2011
October 2017, Volume 28, Issue 4
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Albania, Angola, Congo (Brazzaville), Kenya, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Senegal, and Singapore.
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from the inaugural address of newly elected Argentine president Mauricio Macri. Excerpts from comments to the media made by the DPP's Tsai Ing-wen upon learning she had won Taiwan's presidential election. Excerpts from a communiqué produced at a February conference of governance experts and former Latin American heads of state, organized by Forum 2000 and the Arias Foundation.
July 2006, Volume 17, Issue 3
Universal Values and Muslim Democracy
The desire for freedom and self-government is written in human hearts everywhere; in this there can be no "clash of civilizations." Claims that Islam is inherently hostile to democracy represent an unwarranted surrender to fundamentalist arguments; we should engage with a broad spectrum of Muslim groups, but without compromising our commitment to freedom and democracy.
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Scholarship and Statesmanship
Seymour Martin Lipset’s contributions to political science and sociology are not theoretical achievements alone, but reflect his keenly practical moral awareness, his understanding of leadership, and his great love of democracy as the finest form of government ever devised.
July 2023, Volume 34, Issue 3
Modi’s Undeclared Emergency
Since the beginning of the second Modi government, an emboldened BJP has launched a steady, comprehensive, and unprecedented attack on civil liberties, personal rights, and free speech across India.