How Thai Activists Outsmarted the Generals
The regime tilted the playing field to its advantage, but it didn’t matter. Thailand’s opposition won with creativity, shrewd tactics, and a strategy that united the people. | Srdja Popovic and Steve Parks
2485 Results
democracy vs authoritarian
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
The Rise of “Muslim Democracy”
The incentives created by competitive elections in a number of Muslim-majority countries are fueling a political trend that roughly resembles the rise of Christian Democracy in twentieth-century Europe
January 2019, Volume 30, Issue 1
The Fates of Third-Wave Democracies
Since their transitions, the democracies of the “third wave” have followed a range of trajectories beyond simple survival or breakdown. Many have stagnated at low levels of democracy and some have suffered democratic erosion, but there also have been cases of democratic deepening against the odds.
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Sergei Adamovich’s remarks on the death of Andrei Sakharov; Marjan Farsad’s “Moonlight”; joint letter for a global moratorium on surveillance-technology sales; Zambian president Haikande Hichilema’s inaugural address.
July 2025, Volume 36, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Maria Sarungi Tsehai refuses to be silent; Ekrem İmamoğlu’s letter from prison; a Venezuelan opposition leader’s final message before his arrest; a 19-year-old Russian dissident’s final court statement; Dominican protesters and journalists march for freedom of the press; and the Tiananmen Mothers remember the massacre.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Populism and the Decline of Social Democracy
In both Eastern and Western Europe, social-democratic parties have shifted to the center on economic policy, not only sapping the electoral strength of these parties, but also opening up political space for the populist right.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
China in Xi’s “New Era”: New Zealand and the CCP’s “Magic Weapons”
The Chinese Communist Party has been using New Zealand as a testing ground for its strategy of building influence through “united front work.”
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Europe and Azerbaijan: The End of Shame
A few years ago, Europe’s most important intergovernmental human-rights institution, the Council of Europe, crossed over to the dark side. Like Dorian Gray, the dandy in Oscar Wilde’s story of moral decay, it sold its soul. And as with Dorian Gray, who retained his good looks, the inner decay of the Council of Europe remains hidden from view.
July 2011, Volume 22, Issue 3
The Upheavals in Egypt and Tunisia: The Road to (and from) Liberation Square
Egyptians threw off the thirty-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, but now find themselves under essentially the same military tutelage that they had hoped to escape.
January 2024, Volume 35, Issue 1
Gulf States and Sharp Power: Allies to Adversaries
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are spreading their influence across borders. A new dangerous chapter between the Gulf monarchies and the West has begun.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Combating Beijing’s Sharp Power: How Australia’s Civil Society Led the Way
Influence operations by the People’s Republic of China and its “united front” organs were exposed years ago, but civil society and Chinese-Australians were first in understanding how to counter them.
April 2022, Volume 33, Issue 2
How Beijing Runs the Show in Hollywood
China’s ability to shape the global entertainment industry extends well beyond films, and it no longer rests solely on the allure of big markets. Beijing is exerting newfound leverage that is making giant U.S. media companies do its bidding.
July 2020, Volume 31, Issue 3
Making Sense of Russia’s Illiberalism
The illiberal credo prominent in Russia’s foreign policy is more than just a clever political ploy. Rather, this outlook reflects the traumatic experience of the 1990s, and it is stoked by young political thinkers, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Kremlin itself.
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 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4
Southeast Asia’s Troubling Elections: Is There a Silver Lining?
A trio of national ballotings in 2019 tell a tale of waxing authoritarianism in Southeast Asia, but things could have turned out worse.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
China in Xi’s “New Era”: Forging a New “Eastern Bloc”
Through its “16+1” initiative, China is building relationships with postcommunist Europe that could threaten to undermine the European Union.
October 2017, Volume 28, Issue 4
The Kremlin Emboldened: Putinism After Crimea
Read the full essay here. “The pursuit of national glory,” which M. Steven Fish counts among the features of Vladimir Putin’s “populism,” is emerging as central to the regime’s legitimation. Unlike previous instances of patriotic mobilization (around the Second Chechen War and the 2008 Georgia war), the current one appears to have evolved into a…
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
The Specter Haunting Europe: Surging Illiberalism in the East
The crisis of liberal democracy is Europe-wide, but it has assumed an especially intense form in Central and Eastern Europe.
January 2016, Volume 27, Issue 1
Ethiopia: Silencing Dissent
Ethiopia’s ruling party has long been tightening its grip, using antiterrorism laws and harsh restrictions on media and civil society to silence voices critical of the regime.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Putin versus Civil Society: The Long Struggle for Freedom
Today’s Russian protest movement in many ways resembles past civil-rights and civil-resistance efforts in other parts of the world, from its commitment to nonviolence to its key demands—a vote that counts and equality under the law. Listen to the podcast.