741 Results
A democratic recession has been sweeping the globe for more than two decades, and it’s picking up steam. What explains this alarming decline? In the April issue, leading scholars debate the root causes of democratic backsliding, and what can be done to stop it.
On Tuesday, May 13, the United States announced it would lift longstanding sanctions on Syria. Reintegrating into the global economy could lay the foundations for Syria’s stability and prosperity. In the Journal of Democracy’s latest issue, leading scholars unpack Assad’s unexpected fall, and the reasons for hope that Syria will flourish.
On International Youth Day 2025, the Journal of Democracy celebrates the creativity, determination, and courage of young people across the world fighting for democracy.
Mikhail Gorbachev risked everything. Neither Russia nor the West could live up to his vision.
Indonesian voters have made Prabowo Subianto, a special-forces commander with a dark past, their next president. Even as voters flocked to the polls, his election is a harbinger of democracy’s decline.
The Turkish president came to power as an antiestablishment everyman. Twenty years later he is an authoritarian leader clinging to power. Will the forces that catapulted him to power be his demise?
The government has spent billions preparing to host the 2022 World Cup. Never mind the abusive labor practices and human rights violations. It’s betting that your love of the “beautiful game” will make you more fond of this tiny Gulf state, too.
The Kremlin’s order to call up Russians to fight in Ukraine risks massive protests. It’s the riskiest decision of Putin’s rule, and it could lead to his undoing.
Reports on elections in Botswana, Bulgaria, Georgia, Ghana, Lithuania, Mauritius, Moldova, Mozambique, Namibia, Palau, Romania, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, and Uzbekistan.
The world increasingly appears afflicted by “us-them” divides that breed anger, resentment, and violence. But across the globe small local groups are mounting a thoughtful resistance against polarization and hate.
It’s impossible to make peace with someone who doesn’t want it. But if there is any chance of stopping the killing in Ukraine, this is the path forward.
“Every opportunity must be used to speak out . . . I love Russia. My intellect tells me that it is better to live in a free and prosperous country than in a corrupt and impoverished one.”
Larry Diamond, the leading scholar of democracy, helped to found the Journal of Democracy more than 32 years ago. “Democracy’s Arc: From Resurgent to Imperiled,” published on the eve of the war in Ukraine, was his final essay as our coeditor. But Larry penned numerous pieces for the Journal. Ten of these landmark essays are…
Latin American voters are aggrieved, impatient, and eager to elect candidates who offer a break with the past—sometimes whatever that break may be. This factor, combined with high crime and middling economic growth, has led to wild swings and shrinking political rights. But can the region get itself unstuck?
Is global democracy really in freefall? Here’s what they think.
Billions in much-needed American military aid are now headed for Ukraine. The following Journal of Democracy essays demonstrate what it will take to reverse the course of this war of attrition, and why this struggle is a “contest between democracy and dictatorship.”
Minxin Pei, a leading expert on Chinese authoritarianism, has been writing for the Journal of Democracy since 1992. Over three decades, the Claremont McKenna political scientist has chronicled China’s transformation into a global superpower and descent into neo-Stalinism. The following ten essays comprise some of Pei’s best.
The Russo-Ukrainian War represents an existential clash between democracy and autocracy. A Ukrainian loss, Serhii Plokhy argues in the new issue of the Journal of Democracy, could endanger democracy across the globe.
Romania’s democracy just survived a near-death experience, but it may be more vulnerable going forward. How far can leaders go in defending democracy without compromising their claim to represent the people?
Voters across the world see democracy as unresponsive, out of touch, inept, and even corrupt. Something needs to change, but no one can agree on what. What democracy needs, Joel Day argues in a new Journal of Democracy online exclusive, is a single bold and effective reform plan.
