October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
How to Compete in Unfair Elections
Opposition movements often boycott rigged polls rather than risk legitimizing an autocrat. It is usually a mistake. Here is the playbook for how one opposition seized the advantage.
1799 Results
Sluicing on free choice ignorance sluice
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
Liberation Technology: The Battle for the Chinese Internet
In China, the Internet is not merely contested space between citizen and government. It is also a catalyst for social and political transformation, offering the possibility of better governance with greater citizen participation.
April 2022, Volume 33, Issue 2
Subversion Inc: The Age of Private Espionage
International spying and digital subversion used to be the province of governments. Now anyone who has the cash can order hi-tech snooping and surveillance. This is a threat to the future of freedom.
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Chile, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritania, Nepal, Rwanda, Swaziland, and Tajikistan.
April 2023, Volume 34, Issue 2
The Putin Myth
Vladimir Putin’s reputation as a skillful leader was buoyed by years of economic good fortune. But when his regime faltered, his rule quickly descended into the fearful, repressive, and paranoid state we see today.
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.
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: “Twelve Suggestions for Dealing with the Tibet Situation,” by 29 Chinese intellectuals; a speech given by European Commission president José Manuel Barroso at the formal launch of the European Foundation for Democracy through Partnership; the “State of the Nation” address delivered by the Movement for Democratic Change’s presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai; International Committee…
October 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4
Sudan’s Uprising: The Fall of a Dictator
Amid mass protests, the personalist autocracy of longtime Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir fell to an April 2019 coup. With the country now being governed by a council composed of both opposition leaders and powerful security-service coupmakers, prospects for democratization remain uncertain.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Congo (Kinshasa), Ecuador, Gabon, The Gambia, Latvia, Madagascar, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Saint Lucia, Tajikistan, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zambia.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
The Evolution of Political Order
A review of Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy by Francis Fukuyama.
Putin’s Other Failed War
The Russian leader declared war on his country’s independent journalists. But Russian media outsmarted him by taking their operations overseas. They are now reaching more people than ever before. | Roman Badanin
How Democracy Can Win Out in Sudan
22 November 2021 By Sharan Grewal The country just got a new chance to restore its democratic transition. Here’s how they can ensure that Sudan stays on the right path. One month after being ousted in a military coup, Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is back in office. However, his reinstatement has not satisfied protesters.…
January 2021, Volume 32, Issue 1
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burma, Côte d’Ivoire, Georgia, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Seychelles, Tanzania.
A Dangerous Façade
Marine Le Pen has remade her image to obscure her far-right populism. There is a real risk French voters won’t see through it.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
Delivering for Democracy: Why Results Matter
Voters around the world are losing faith in democracy’s ability to deliver and increasingly turning toward more authoritarian alternatives. To restore citizens’ confidence, democracies must show they can make progress without sacrificing accountability.
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
Why the Future Is Democratic
The swelling pessimism about democracy’s future is unwarranted. Values focused on human freedom are spreading throughout the world, and suggest that the future of self-government is actually quite bright.
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Liberia, Mauritius, Moldova, Mozambique, Namibia, Romania, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Uruguay.