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democracy vs authoritarian

July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3

African Popular Protest and Political Change

There is a troubling tension around “people power” in Africa today: African social movements are among the most successful at ousting autocrats. But the continent’s entrenched antidemocratic institutions leave these victories highly vulnerable to reversal.

October 2025, Volume 36, Issue 4

Why Senegal’s Democracy Survived

After a turbulent election cycle, with an incumbent leader postponing the vote and putting his thumb on the scale, voters elected a new president and, for the third time in Senegalese history, a new ruling party. How did the country keep its democracy from crumbling?

January 1994, Volume 5, Issue 1

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: a peace accord between Israel and the PLO; “There is  Nothing Love Cannot Face,” a  message from the Conference of Cuban Catholic Bishops; a “Peace  Charter” from Chinese prodemocracy activists.  

October 2023, Volume 34, Issue 4

Artificial Intelligence and Democracy

In this symposium, the Journal of Democracy brings together leading thinkers, experts, and technologists to explore the challenges that artificial intelligence poses for humanity, and how democratic institutions can be marshaled to help meet those challenges.

July 2007, Volume 18, Issue 3

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: the Berlin Declaration; an interview with Thich Quang Do—winner of the 2006 Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for Human Rights Defenders; a speech delivered by Romanian president Traian Băsescu.

Statement of Editorial Independence

The Journal of Democracy is the world’s leading publication on the theory and practice of democracy. Since its founding in 1990, the Journal has engaged leading scholars, writers, and activists in critical discussions about the prospects and perils for democracy across the globe. The Journal of Democracy is housed within the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)…

Winter 1991, Volume 2, Issue 1

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: the Madrid Declaration; Popular Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) party president Ivan Drach’s speech to the Congress; the Charter of Paris. 

July 1996, Volume 7, Issue 3

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui’s inaugural address; a ten-point declaration of a summit of more than a dozen Nigerian prodemocracy groups; an “Inter-American Convention Against Corruption”; resolutions adopted by Burma’s National League for Democracy.

October 1996, Volume 7, Issue 4

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: testimony delivered at South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; remarks by National Endowment for Democracy president Carl Gershman; remarks delivered at a reception marking the opening of Mongolia’s new parliament.

Save la République!

Why Emmanuel Macron’s reelection hangs on him winning support from the very people he has ignored most. April 2022  By Moshik Temkin This month’s French presidential election is giving off a strong sense of déjà vu. As in 2017 and 2002, a center-right presidential candidate (this time, current president Emmanuel Macron) faces off in…

October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: Egyptian sociologist and prodemocracy activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim’s written statement; the Arab Human Development Report; UN Development Program Administrator Mark Malloch Brown’s address launching the 2002 Human Development Report; Columbian president Alvaro Uribe Vélez’s inaugural address; Chair of the African Union (AU) and South African president Thabo Mbeki’s speech at the inauguration of…

Free

April 2010, Volume 21, Issue 2

Democracy and Deep Divides

How do democracies deal with the deep divisions created by race, ethnicity, religion, and language? The cases of Canada, India, and the United States show that democratic institutions—notably, competitive elections and independent judiciaries—can bridge divides and build stability, but they must find a way to manage the tension between individual and group equality.

April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: Tawakkol Karman's acceptance speech for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize; a statement issued by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s National Conference of Bishops on the DRC's disputed 2011 presidential election; the concluding statement of the February 22 extraordinary meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group regarding the resignation of Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed.

October 1994, Volume 5, Issue 4

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: the statement of Wangarí Maathai, the founder and head of the Kenyan Greenbelt Movement; recommendations from the First International Conference on the Peoples of the Arab World and the Middle East and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Minorities.

October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: speeches commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the “Polish August”; the Bamako Declaration of the African Statesmen Initiative; an open letter in recognition of Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday.

Summer 1990, Volume 1, Issue 3

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: the statement of Chai Lin, a leader of the Beijing University Independent Student Union; Cameroon Bar Association president Bernard A. Muna’s speech on behalf of detained political activists; the final document of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe’s session.

Fall 1991, Volume 2, Issue 4

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: speeches and declarations issued in the course of the failed USSR coup; speeches presented at the First Ibero-American Summit; Charter 91, signed by more than 100 Iraqi expatriates.

Fall 1990, Volume 1, Issue 4

Election Watch

Reports on elections in: Ecuador, Mongolia, and São Tomé & Príncipe.