367 Results
Survive dizigom
April 2013, Volume 24, Issue 2
Lessons from Latin America: Democratic Breakdown and Survival
Why do democracies survive or fail? An empirical study of Latin America finds that the fate of democracies depends largely on the regional political context, as well as the level of actors’ commitment to democracy and policy moderation.
The Kremlin Emboldened: Paradoxes of Decline
The Russian system of personalized power is growing ever more dependent on the same strategies that proved useless in sustaining the USSR. While the system still has the potential to limp along, its survival tactics render the it progressively more dysfunctional. Among the circumstances weighing against the system’s survival are the unintended yet logical consequences…
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Explaining Eastern Europe: Orbán’s Laboratory of Illiberalism
Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party has used its two-thirds majority in parliament to change the constitution, erase checks and balances, and make the electoral system even more majoritarian.
July 2020, Volume 31, Issue 3
Authoritarian Survival: Iran’s Republic of Repression
The Islamic Republic is in a volatile, even prerevolutionary situation, hammered by foreign opposition and sanctions from the outside, and the disillusionment and discontent of its own people from within. But a catalyst needs to appear.
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Mass Protests and the Military
When nonviolent mass protests occur under authoritarian regimes, the military plays a key role in determining the outcome: the hardening of the dictatorship, a new authoritarian regime, or a transition to democracy.
October 2017, Volume 28, Issue 4
The Kremlin Emboldened: Paradoxes of Decline
Read the full essay here. The Russian system of personalized power is growing ever more dependent on the same strategies that proved useless in sustaining the USSR. While the system still has the potential to limp along, its survival tactics render the it progressively more dysfunctional. Among the circumstances weighing against the system’s survival are…
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
China and East Asian Democracy: Is CCP Rule Fragile or Resilient?
Is “authoritarian resilience” in China a passing phenomenon, or is it something more durable?
October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4
Democratization in the Arab World? The Trap of Liberalized Autocracy
Politics in the Arab Middle East is often a matter of powerholders first liberalizing — and then "deliberalizing" — public life in order to first maintain their rule. But this "survival strategy" is a dead end.
July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3
Francophone Africa in Flux: Niger Gets Back on Track
After a failed democratic experiment in 1993-96 and two military coups, Niger successfully held free and fair elections in 1999. The next couple of years will be crucial to the long-term survival of democracy.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Russia Under Putin: Can Electoral Autocracy Survive?
Vladimir Putin soon must make a fundamental choice: whether to hold on to monolithic power or to adopt a reformist course that could leave him at the center of a battle without any guarantee of success.

October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
The Danger Is Real
Analysis that subtly defines away problems is not going to help democracies survive the threats they now face. The fear is warranted.
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.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
The Fear of Shrinking Numbers
Illiberalism can drive away a country’s young people, and with them the future.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
Russia’s Ukraine Obsession
Lacking any ideas for shoring up Russian society, Putin has settled on picking a fight with Ukraine.
October 2018, Volume 29, Issue 4
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: Democratic Survival and Weakness
Democracy is enduring in Latin America, but it cannot be said to be prospering. Illiberalism and polarization are rising. Yet core democratic institutions remain firmly in place, and therein lies hope.
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
The Role of Ordinary People in Democratization
In order for a country to move beyond mere electoral democracy, ordinary people must acquire resources and values that allow them to pressure elites. Human empowerment is essential for the development of "effective democracy."