Latin America’s Crime Crisis
Organized criminal groups in Latin America have money, firepower, and a stranglehold on political life — making them incredibly difficult to defeat. How can countries in the region curb the violence and revive democracy?
1930 Results
Nayib Bukele self-deprecating slogan July 2019 article
Is Latin America Stuck in the Middle?
Latin American voters are aggrieved, impatient, and eager to elect candidates who offer a break with the past—sometimes whatever that break may be. This factor, combined with high crime and middling economic growth, has led to wild swings and shrinking political rights. But can the region get itself unstuck?
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Free Speech in a Time of War
Within Ukraine, Russia’s 2014 invasion has generated unprecedented pressures to impose restrictions on speech. While international norms allow some censorship during wartime, some of Ukraine’s new media and cultural policies raise risks not only for its democracy, but for its security as well.
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.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Aspirations and Realities in Africa: Democratic Delivery Falls Short
Data from the latest wave of the Afrobarometer survey show that Africans’ demand for liberal democracy remains high. The problem lies in lagging supply.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Aspirations and Realities in Africa: The DRC’s Electoral Sideshow
Stymied in his effort to secure a third term, President Joseph Kabila manipulated the electoral process in order to secure a compliant successor.
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
30 Years After Tiananmen: Memory in the Era of Xi Jinping
Xi reads Tiananmen as a cautionary tale, and he has sought to centralize power and reverse years of ideological atrophy. By controlling the past, he is trying to determine how the Chinese will view their present and future.
October 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nauru, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Ukraine.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
Iran’s Peculiar Election: The Role of Ideology
The election results reflect less what voters want than the ideological dynamics that shape the behavior of factions within the regime.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
The Rise of an “Outsider” President
A comic actor’s triumph in Ukraine’s free and competitive 2019 presidential race reflects distrust of establishment elites and a deep desire for change.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
The Decay of the Central American Left
Following the settlement of the revolutionary conflicts that long plagued the region, the left was able to reach power through elections. But the results have been discouraging.
January 2019, Volume 30, Issue 1
Cambodia’s Transition to Hegemonic Authoritarianism
A crackdown on the opposition, followed by sham parliamentary elections in July 2018, has deepened and extended the decades-long personalist dictatorship of Hun Sen.
January 2024, Volume 35, Issue 1
The Autocrat-in-Training: The Sisi Regime at 10
Egypt’s general-turned-president has spent lavishly, cemented the military’s political and economic control, and, afraid of suffering Mubarak’s fate, become increasingly repressive. But with crushing inflation and everyday people suffering, is Sisi losing his grip?
April 2024, Volume 35, Issue 2
America’s Crisis of Civic Virtue
The problem for democracy today is not capitalism; it is a decline in public honesty and civility. But there is an opportunity to revive our sense of national community, if we seize it.
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
Catalonia: The Perils of Majoritarianism
Spain’s system of Autonomous Communities had functioned fairly smoothly for decades following the country’s democratic transition, but events in Catalonia are putting it under unprecedented strain.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
How Zelensky Has Changed Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky is far more than a brave wartime leader. He began changing the tenor and direction of Ukrainian politics long before the people made him their president.
Why Women Are Leading the Fight in Iran
Iran’s women were the Islamic Republic’s first target for repression. This is the newest chapter in their struggle to win back their rights. | Ladan Boroumand
The Life of the Party
Online Exclusive by Patrick Quirk and Jan Surotchak | Establishment parties are flagging. They should learn from political disruptors.