954 Results
January 2013, Volume 24, Issue 1
Given Southeast Asia’s relatively high level of socioeconomic development, we might expect it to be a showcase of democracy. Yet it is not. To grasp why, one must look to deeper factors of history and geography.
April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2
Does recourse to the ballot box spur violence and instability in the world’s poorest countries? Despite the worries of modernization theorists such as Paul Collier, the evidence indicates that, over time, elections are not associated with higher levels of political violence.
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Read the full essay here. Recent years have seen a transformation in Turkish civil-military relations—away from the traditional picture of weak elected officials overseen by a strong military, to one of a strengthened civilian government and a military with decreased influence. This article explores the questions of how this transformation has occurred, whether it will…
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
Are laws guaranteeing citizens freedom of access to public information (FOI laws) among the most important democratic innovations of the last century?
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
The financial crisis did not deal a fatal blow to any democracies, but it did hasten an erosion of the influence of the West. In the future, the balance of power among competing regime types may be decided by the emerging-market democracies.
July 2010, Volume 21, Issue 3
A tribute to Václav Havel, Czech playwright and former dissident, who became not only president but the symbol of the “velvet revolutions.”
April 2010, Volume 21, Issue 2
The 2009 electoral victories of Indonesia’s incumbent president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and his party reveal a growing sophistication among the electorate and a robust presidency, but also a dangerously weak, highly personalistic party system.
January 2010, Volume 21, Issue 1
The 1989 revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe were the triumph of civic dignity over Leninism. The first decade of postcommunism saw the project of an open society strongly challenged by ethnocratic temptations. The most important new idea brought about by the revolutions of 1989 was the rethinking and the restoration of citizenship.
January 2010, Volume 21, Issue 1
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 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
The more-democratic postcommunist countries have maintained stronger social safety nets than their authoritarian counterparts, but they must reassess their welfare policies to address emerging social challenges.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
There is a widespread desire for democracy among the Iraqi public, but when it comes to the roles of religion, ethnicity, and gender equality in Iraq's new democracy, attitudes are more varied.
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
Like many other world-government bodies, the International Monetary Fund is a necessarily nondemocratic organitzation that cannot help but have an impact on democracy’s prospects in poorer countries.
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
The notion that the Muslim world as a whole does not suffer from a deficit in terms of competitive democracy is apealing, but rests on evidence and assumptions that cannot withstand critical scrutiny.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Confucianism has had a long history of involvement with the state in East Asia, but today there are reasons to think that it can become a positive force in encouraging democracy.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Since the end of the Cold War, Central America has seen a regionwide diminution of military influence that bodes well for democratic governance and healthier civil-military relations.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
One of the most important events in post-Cold War international affairs, NATO enlargement is even more of a democratic milestone for the countries of Eastern Europe than is the expansion of the EU.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Almost a half-century after being forced from their homeland, Tibetans abroad, led by the Dalai Lama, have democratized their institutions in hopes that they may one day form the basis for a free and self-governing Tibet.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
There is an emerging current of enlightened thought in the Muslim world today, but it is all too often wrongly labeled and poorly understood.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Invited to join the European Union next year, the Czech Republic has a weak governing coalition that faces deep challenges at home.
January 2021, Volume 32, Issue 1
While analysts of populism have focused on economic woes and “cultural backlash,” a thirst for the restoration of order may better explain the appeal of authoritarian populists in fragile democracies where governance is falling short.
