January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
China and East Asian Democracy: The Patterns of History
The legitimacy and appeal of democracy in East Asia will depend on how democratic countries in the region stack up against China.
2492 Results
democracy vs authoritarian
April 2009, Volume 20, Issue 2
Reading Russia: Forms Without Substance
Read the full essay here. Twenty years ago, there was a more thoroughgoing political pluralism in Russia than there is today. In some respects, the forms of democracy-including party consolidation-have been enhanced, but they have been so manipulated as to deprive them of substance. Either “electoral authoritarianism” of “multiparty authoritarianism” (Juan Linz’s terms) may reasonably…
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
China and East Asian Democracy: The Taiwan Factor
If the PRC moves toward democracy, it is likely to be in some part due to the influence of Taiwan.
April 2009, Volume 20, Issue 2
Reading Russia: Tools of Autocracy
Read the full essay here. Arguably a flawed democracy in the 1990s, Russia took a distinctly authoritarian turn under President Vladimir Putin from 2000 to 2008. The country now lives under a façade democracy that barely conceals the political and administrative dominance of a self-interested bureaucratic corporation. The regime manufactures consent by means of three…
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
The Authoritarian Origins of the Third Wave
The “third wave” of democracy started in 1974 — or so the story goes. But the crests and crashes of waves of democracy and authoritarianism have been neglected. A close look can help us understand the current moment, when democracy appears to be in retreat.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Hong Kong: The Perils of Semidemocracy
Hong Kong has experienced a smooth transition from British to Chinese rule, but signs of political, economic, and social malaise mean that further steps toward fuller democracy are needed.
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
Confronting Authoritarianism
In May 2018, the people of Malaysia transcended distinctions of class, religion, and ethnicity in order to vote for democracy and reform against a long-ruling party riddled with corruption.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
Neoliberalism and the Third Wave
Democracy across the world is being undermined by the very forces that once made it possible: the liberal economic order and political competition. The global concentration of wealth has made democratic governance less effective and stripped the people of their power.
July 2007, Volume 18, Issue 3
The Democracy Barometers (Part I): Authoritarian Nostalgia in Asia
East Asia’s “third-wave” democracies are in distress, and the economic success of nondemocratic regimes in the region creates a tough standard for comparison.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Combating Beijing’s Sharp Power: Taiwan’s Democracy Under Fire
No state on the planet is more heavily targeted by authoritarians’ information warfare than the Republic of China on Taiwan. And no other state and free society are better at resisting the daily onslaught.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
Russia: Authoritarianism Without Authority
Vladimir Putin has pulled the plug on democracy in Russia in an effort to strengthen the authority of the central state. But a look at Russian federal relations shows that the state is growing weaker rather than stronger.
October 2017, Volume 28, Issue 4
Liberal Democracy’s Fading Allure
Is liberal democracy the only suitable type of government for a strong, modern society? A quarter-century ago, the answer seemed to be a clear yes. But today the picture is much cloudier.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
The Cutting Edge of Sharp Power
Democratic societies must address the spread of technology developed in authoritarian settings while continuing to uphold democratic norms.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Arabs and Democracy: A Record of Failure
Democracy is spreading everywhere except in the Arab world. Arab elections are an immense masquerade. Corrupt dictatorships seek to stifle freedom of thought and to control the flow of information.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Why Putin Must Be Defeated
The more determined democracies are to avoid war, the greater the risk that autocracies will wage it.
April 2022, Volume 33, Issue 2
Nicaragua: Doubling Down on Dictatorship
It was no secret Daniel Ortega was bent on dismantling his country’s democracy. But by the time his opponents joined forces, it was too late. A cautionary tale for all democrats.
April 2020, Volume 31, Issue 2
The Freedom House Survey for 2019: The Leaderless Struggle for Democracy
In 2019, the global democratic recession deepened, while protest movements proliferated around the world, fighting largely without leaders or support from major democracies.
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.
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
Nicaragua: A Return to Caudillismo
With the ruling FSLN’s one-sided triumph in the November 2016 elections, Nicaraguan democracy underwent further erosion. The emerging authoritarian party-state, far from being a leftist revolutionary government, is becoming a neopatrimonial dictatorship in an older Latin American style.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
The Perils of Climate Alarmism
Democracies — facing gridlock and polarization — often fall short. But it should be remembered that dictatorships do even more harm.