Syria After Assad—One Year On
On 8 December 2024, a coalition of Islamic militants toppled the brutal Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, whose family had ruled the country for more than half a century.
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QUE LE PASO A Z GAS
Is This the End of the Duterte Dynasty?
Police in Manila arrested former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte on an ICC warrant for crimes against humanity. His daughter, Vice-President Sara Duterte, was impeached a month ago. The following Journal of Democracy essays chart the twists and turns of Philippine politics and the long-running feud between the Duterte and Marcos political clans.
How the Duterte Clan Is Remaking the Marcos Playbook
The May 2025 Philippine midterms are just the latest chapter in a yearslong feud between the Marcos and Duterte clans. These essays below plot the twists and turns of the political drama, and explain why it’s really a diversion from meaningful democratic reform.
Do Referendums Really Empower the People?
When voters are asked to cast ballots for or against important national policies — whether to draft or adopt a new constitution, to abolish or reinstate term limits, or, perhaps most famously, to leave or remain in the European Union — they take that job seriously. Yet national referendums are not always put forward in…
Israel’s Democracy in Crisis
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary has sparked unprecedented protests across Israel. Two experts explain the roots of the crisis and what it could mean for the future of Israeli democracy.
How Xi Jinping Is Remaking China
At the Chinese Communist Party’s Twentieth National Congress last week, Xi Jinping secured a third term as Party secretary. But the most important development wasn’t Xi extending his rule or the Party’s elevation of new leaders. Rather, Xi made clear that the era of Chinese economic growth above all else was over. Now the Party’s…
How to Restore Venezuela’s Democracy
“As U.S. military assets accumulate in the Caribbean and diplomatic pressure on the Nicolás Maduro regime intensifies,” writes José Ramón Morales-Arilla in a new Journal of Democracy online exclusive, “two starkly different visions of Venezuela’s future dominate policy discussions.”
What Does a Humiliated Putin Mean for Russia?
While widespread violence or civil war was averted, the consequences for Russia—and Putin—could be grave.
Breaking Han Silence
China’s recent protests marked a crucial milestone: The mainstream Chinese public, at home and abroad, finally spoke up for the Uyghurs and their plight.
Why Alexei Navalny Mattered in Life and Still Matters in Death
Vladimir Putin may have imprisoned, tortured, and killed the brilliant opposition leader, but even now Navalny is a threat to the corrupt autocracy he has built.
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
Welcome to Manila’s Game of Thrones
The struggle between the Marcos and Duterte clans isn’t just a battle between two houses. It is becoming a proxy fight between the United States and China for the future of the Indo-Pacific.
Ecuador’s Democratic Breakdown
The small Latin American country was a brief democratic bright spot. But it appears to have fallen victim to a clash between populists and anti-populists, without a democrat in sight.
List of Coded Coups
List of Coded Coups
New JoD book on East Asia
Democracy in East Asia: A New Century, the latest in the Journal of Democracy book series, is now available.
April 26, 2013
Thomas Friedman on Larry Diamond’s January 2015 JoD essay
Thomas Friedman discusses Larry Diamond's "Facing up to the Democratic Recession" in a New York Times op-ed.
February 18, 2015
Why Democracy Survives: A Debate
Even in an era haunted by democratic decline, Jason Brownlee and Kenny Miao find that wealthy democracies are unlikely to collapse in their contribution to the October 2022 Journal of Democracy. Six top experts in the field debate their conclusions.
The Perils of Kenya’s New Power-Sharing Deal
The Journal of Democracy essays below, free for a limited time, chart the trials and triumphs of Kenya’s democracy over the last two decades — plus key essays on the theory and practice of political power sharing.
How Venezuela Actually Becomes a Democracy
The South American country may be on the verge of real change. But it isn’t going to descend into civil-war chaos like Libya. It will be difficult, imperfect, and far better than what Venezuelans have had to endure.
The Man Who Stood Up to Vladimir Putin
It is almost a year since the death of Alexei Navalny. The Russian opposition leader sought to channel Russian nationalism as a challenge to Putin’s autocracy. He gave everything in the fight.