October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
The Quality of Democracy: Freedom as the Foundation
Freedom has always been integral to democracy. How to guard liberty is a question every democratic regime must answer.
1985 Results
Nayib Bukele self-deprecating slogan July 2019 article
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
Debate: The Persistence of Arab Authoritarianism
The lack of democracy in the Arab world is a problem that goes far beyond the absence of competitive elections. This lack must be traced not to religion or culture, but to adverse historical and geostrategic circumstances.
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
Debate: Arab, Not Muslim, Exceptionalism
Muslim-majority, non-Arab countries are “overachievers” at electoral competitiveness. Arab countries, by contrast, constitute a distinctive political community that at present is inhospitable to competitive elections.
April 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2
Constitutional Design for Divided Societies
Constitution writers in ethnically or otherwise divided countries should focus on designing a system of power-sharing rules and institutions. Studies by political scientists point to a set of basic recommendations that should form a starting point for constitutional negotiations.
April 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2
Georgia’s Rose Revolution
Events last November confouned expectations set by the failure of democratization in Russia and other ex-Soviet republics, and should prompt new reflections on how fragile openings to democacy may be sustained and widened.
April 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2
East Timor: Elections in the World’s Newest Nation
East Timor, which emerged from a tragic and bloody past to gain full independence in 2002, offers a factinating case of democratization in a small developing country with a shallow history of democracy.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
Europe Moves Eastward: Challenges of EU Enlargement
As it prepares to go from 15 to 25 member states, the EU has improved the prospects for democracy in the East, but nothing about enlargement promises to resolve the vexing issue of democracy within the EU structure itself.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
Europe Moves Eastward: Beyond the New Borders
By expanding itself eastward, the EU has not so much settled the questions surrounding the “borders” of Europe as it has displaced them, changing their focus to take in new areas and new issues.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
The 2003 Freedom House Survey: National Income and Liberty
Despite the threats posed by terrorism, 2003 saw a second consecutive year of significant momentum of freedom, and showed encouraging evidence that political rights and civil liberties can endure despite economic privation.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
Advanced Democracies and the New Politics
The advanced democracies are shifting from a reliance on representation toward a mixed repertoire that includes greater reliance on “direct” and “advocacy” democracy, creating new problems that will require new solutions.
October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4
The Crisis of Indian Secularism
The principled separation of religious from political claims upon which Indian democracy depends may not be dead, but it is ailing badly. How did things reach this pass, and what is the prognosis for recovery?
October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4
Making Sense of the EU: Competing Goals, Conflicting Perspectives
Is the EU an international organization, an emerging federal state, something in between, or something altogether different? So far it has managed to survive and prosper depite all the disagreements about its true nature, but for how long can it continue to do so?
October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4
What Europe Means for Poland
The famed former dissident reflects on the lessons learned from Poland’s transformation, the anxieties that continue to beset his country, and the hopes and fears that attend its return to Europe.
October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4
Can Democracy Be Taught?
Civic education can enhance democratic values and participation among adults in young democracies, but the training must be frequent and participatory. Otherwise adult civic education may not be worth doing.
October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4
Argentina Weathers the Storm
In the wake of its recent crisis, Argentina can move from survival to stability only if it responds to demands for institutional change in a way that strengthens the country’s institutions over the long term.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Latin America’s Lost Illusions: Dispirited Politics
The strains of economic reform have not increased support for antidemocratic populism in Latin America, but they have led to acute dissatisfaction with democratic governments.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Latin America’s Lost Illusions: The Future of Structural Reform
As Latin America suffers from its worst economic crisis in decades, the reform of political institutions remains the region’s best hope.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
How Autocrats Use Proxies to Control the Media
Propaganda is autocrats’ weapon of first resort, allowing them to rely on persuasion rather than violence to achieve their ends. But citizens have grown savvy, so autocrats are taking a new tack: spreading their messages via private news outlets indirectly controlled by regime proxies.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a victory speech by Mexican president-elect Vicente Fox; a final declaration of a conference entitled “Towards a Community of Democracies”; the “Declaration of Unity” signed by democratic activists from 11 Asian countries.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Election Watch
Reports on elections in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Georgia, Haiti, Iran, Peru, Russia, Senegal, South Korea, Suriname, Taiwan, Thailand, and Venezuela.