July 2007, Volume 18, Issue 3
How Will China Democratize?
No one should underrate the will and skill that the ruling Chinese Communist Party will put into keeping its grip on power.
1930 Results
Nayib Bukele self-deprecating slogan July 2019 article
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.
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Islam and Democracy in Tunisia
The president of Tunisia’s Ennahdha party, Rached Ghannouchi, argues that the solution to extremism is more (not less) freedom and democracy, along with more moderate religious teachings.
July 2012, Volume 23, Issue 3
African Elections: Two Divergent Trends
Regular elections have become a fixture of political life throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but there are now “two Africas” in this regard: one where elections bring the blessings of greater political openness and competition, and another where elections are, in effect, one more tool that authoritarians use to retain power.
July 1995, Volume 6, Issue 3
Departures from Communism
A review of From Reform to Revolution: The Demise of Communism in China and the Soviet Union, by Minxin Pei and Sowing the Seeds of Democracy in China: Political Reform in the Deng Xiaoping Era, by Merlec Goldman.
October 2007, Volume 18, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a communiqué adopted at a postelection Nigerian civil society summit; a report from Abuja from IFES Deputy Director Nathan Dusen; an open letter issued by Chinese human rights defenders before the opening of the 2008 Olympic Games.
July 2010, Volume 21, Issue 3
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Colombia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Hungary, Iraq, Mauritius, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Togo, and Trinidad and Tobago.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: the inaugural address of Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko; “My Ideals and the Career Path I Have Chosen,” an autobiographical essay by by Ilham Tohti; a speech given by Chinese lawyer and civil-rights activist Chen Guangcheng to mark the impending twenty-fifth anniversary of the massacre at Tiananmen Square.
Online Exchange on “Democratic Deconsolidation”
In July 2016 and January 2017, the Journal of Democracy published two articles on “democratic deconsolidation” by Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk. These essays not only generated a great deal of commentary in the media, but also stimulated numerous responses from scholars focusing on Foa and Mounk’s analysis of the survey data that is at the heart of their argument.…
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Croatia, Ghana, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Moldova, Mozambique, Niger, Palestinian Territories, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Ukraine.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Kenyan president-elect Emilio Mwai Kibaki’s inaugural speech; statement by the International Movement of Parliamentarians for Democracy condemning the crackdown on Cuban dissidents; Organization of American States (OAS) secretary-general César Gaviria’s speech at a conference entitled “Financing Democracy: Political Parties, Campaigns and Elections.”
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
The Future of Platform Power: Solving for a Moving Target
Despite the challenges, middleware offers a legally and politically feasible answer to platforms’ influence over speech.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
China in Xi’s “New Era”: The Return to Personalistic Rule
After Mao, Deng Xiaoping tried to institutionalize collective leadership, but this did not stop Xi Jinping from grasping all the levers of power.
October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Egyptian sociologist and prodemocracy activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim’s written statement; the Arab Human Development Report; UN Development Program Administrator Mark Malloch Brown’s address launching the 2002 Human Development Report; Columbian president Alvaro Uribe Vélez’s inaugural address; Chair of the African Union (AU) and South African president Thabo Mbeki’s speech at the inauguration of…
How Thai Activists Outsmarted the Generals
The regime tilted the playing field to its advantage, but it didn’t matter. Thailand’s opposition won with creativity, shrewd tactics, and a strategy that united the people. | Srdja Popovic and Steve Parks
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Journalist Lian Qingchuan’s reflections on the Shanghai lockdown; Evgenia Kara-Murza’s testimony before the UN Human Rights Council; independent expert assessment of Russian violations of the international Genocide Convention; Moldovan president Maia Sandu’s commencement address; Larry Diamond’s acceptance speech from the 2022 Democracy Service Medal award ceremony; U.S. president Ronald Reagan’s Westminster Address.
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
Paradoxes of the New Authoritarianism
Why are the unfree regimes of the former Soviet world proving so durable? A lack of ideology and—perhaps surprisingly—a degree of openness are proving to be not so much problems for authoritarianism as bulwarks of it.
Ukraine’s Information Warriors
Russian rockets are targeting Ukrainian journalists’ ability to report the news, but the country’s media is finding new ways to stay on the air. 9 March 2022 By Marta Dyczok As I sat writing this article, the people I was writing about, many of whom are my friends, were being attacked by Russian military forces.…
The Curse of the Ex-Presidents
Online Exclusive by Casey Cagley | Across Latin America, former leaders are keeping a chokehold on their countries’ politics. It’s time their successors break free.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
Resisting the Authoritarian Temptation
Democracy’s unique, flexible, and substantial resources make it better than authoritarianism at confronting climate change.