July 1993, Volume 4, Issue 3
Philosophy and Democracy
A review of The Ennobling of Democracy: The Challenge of the Postmodern Age, by Thomas Pangle.
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April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
The 2016 U.S. Election: Fears and Facts About Electoral Integrity
In 2016, concerns about the administration of elections in the United States generated highly charged partisan debates. Are the worries justified?
January 2010, Volume 21, Issue 1
Twenty Years of Postcommunism: What’s the Matter with Russia?
The author analyses the confluence of several elements that helped to set Russia’s course: the influence of history; the challenges of the transformation process itself; the importance of leadership; and the role of the West.
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
The Quality of Democracy: A Skeptical Afterword
Asking what makes a good democracy is a noble and sensible enterprise, but it will always point beyond the borders of empirical political science.
January 2003, Volume 14, Issue 1
China’s Changing of the Guard: The Limits of Authoritarian Resilience
The regime has only institutionalized itself partially and temporarily; institutional norms are currently eroding, and this is likely to continue.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
After the Arab Spring: The Islamists’ Compromise in Tunisia
How did a potent Islamist movement come to accept a non-Islamist constitution? The answer lies in that movement’s self-protective reflexes.
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 2020, Volume 31, Issue 3
A Glimpse of the Way Forward
For all the concern over authoritarianism’s advance, the competence of governance may be what determines the next chapter in the struggle between democracy and dictatorship.
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
The Opening in Burma: A Union for All of Us
Elections alone will not answer the question of how to build a lasting democracy. Minority rights also must be protected.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
South Asia Faces the Future: Back and Forth in Bangladesh
Recent parliamentary elections showed the continuing strengths and weaknesses of Bangladeshi democracy. Although the country does have strong political parties and a decade of democratic elections, the intense antipathy between government and opposition will continue to cause problems well into the future.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Promoting Democracy: The Mandela-Mbeki Doctrine
The promotion of democracy in Africa has become the dominant theme of South Africa’s foreign policy. Yet the dilemmas this policy has confronted in practice have forced the government to alter its approach.
July 2007, Volume 18, Issue 3
The Democracy Barometers (Part I): Formal versus Informal Institutions in Africa
Survey data indicate that Africans support democracy and its formal institutions, but also point to the importance of the informal realm, particularly when formal institutions fail to meet popular expectations.
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
The Quality of Democracy: Why the Rule of Law Matters
Law-based rule means a set of basic conditions that make civic life possible. A democratic rule of law requires all that and more, however.
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
China: Totalitarianism’s Long Shadow
China’s fast economic rise has not dented its dictatorship, but Xi Jinping’s neo-Stalinist strategy has unleashed new challenges and tensions for the Communist Party’s long-term prospects for survival.
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
India’s 2009 Elections: A Vote to Stay the Course
Indian voters pulled off a surprise by allowing the Congress party to retain power at the head of a more coherent coalition that is far less dependent on a congeries of small regional parties.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
The Mexican Standoff: The Mobilization of Distrust
Mexico’s system of electoral governance and dispute settlement worked reasonably well, yet it created too much noise and too many needless invitations to distrust. The failures observed were less those of institutions than of actors. The loser reacted deplorably, but none of those involved acted in a manner beyond reproach.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
Europe Moves Eastward: Concluding Reflections
The fall of the Berlin Wall gave East Europeans a euphoric sense that they were about to give European democacy a new direction. But as many of their countries prepare to join the EU, little has worked out as expected in those heady days.
April 2009, Volume 20, Issue 2
Reading Russia: The Merger of Power and Property
Read the full essay here. The regime in Moscow mixes key features of a capitalist economy with a political system wherein power is monopolized by a close-knit professional and age cohort whose members often have a background in the secret police. Instead of seeking to base its legitimacy on broad-based, transpersonal institutions with character and…
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Elections Without Democracy: Africa’s Range of Regimes
Today, Africa south of the Sahara has a relatively small number of both democracies and full-blown dictatorships,along with a large number of hard-to-define regimes that fit neither category.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Arabs and Democracy: Illusions of Change
Many observers regarded 1999 as a year of progress for democracy in the Arab world. There is reason to doubt, however, whether any meaningful change has really occurred.