October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
The Quality of Democracy: Addressing Inequality
Democracy requires robust political equality, but the persistence of social, economic and cultural inequality complicates its realization.
1543 Results
fashion accessory society 1989-2019 presidents DG JI
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
Indonesia’s Approaching Elections: Politics, Islam, and Public Opinion
In the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, a dense and pervasive network of moderate Muslim civil society organizations significantly reinforces political moderation and limiting the appeal of radical Islamism.
July 2025, Volume 36, Issue 3
Can Capitalism Save Democracy?
Capitalism is often blamed for democracy’s ills. But much of the blame is misplaced. It is not business capture of the state but rather state capture of business that poses the greatest danger to democracy.
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Georgian Luka Gviniashvili on protesting the foreign-agent bill; a speech by Evgenia Kara-Murza to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; an Iranian rapper denounces Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence; Carl Gershman on Mário Soares and the fiftieth anniversary of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution; a Ugandan political prisoner’s court-martial hearing; María Corina Machado wins the Global…
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
The Rise of an “Outsider” President
A comic actor’s triumph in Ukraine’s free and competitive 2019 presidential race reflects distrust of establishment elites and a deep desire for change.
October 2018, Volume 29, Issue 4
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: Virtue, Fortune, and Failure in Peru
Less than two years after an extremely close presidential election, the supporters of Keiko Fujimori took advantage of a corruption scandal to cut short the presidency of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
El Salvador’s Beleaguered Democracy
In February 2014, Salvadorans narrowly elected as president a former FMLN guerrilla commander, but he will have to deal with a dire economy and horrific levels of crime.
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
Why Mexico Is Not on the Brink
Claudia Sheinbaum won Mexico’s presidency in a landslide, but celebration of her election as the country’s first female president was blunted by a deeper concern: Mexico’s deteriorating democracy. In truth, the country’s democratic institutions are highly resilient, and there is reason to be optimistic about what lies ahead.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
Iran’s Peculiar Election: Chinese Dreams, Persian Realities
Basic demographic and socioeconomic factors in Iran are favorable to democratization. The mullahs may hope to stave off democratic change by emulating the Chinese model, but this strategy is doomed to fail.
The Life of the Party
Establishment parties are flagging. They should learn from political disruptors.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Bread and Autocracy in Putin’s Russia
The Kremlin wields food as a weapon and a shield against Western interference. But Putin’s push for food autarky could backfire, driving up prices and turning Russians against the regime.
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
Misunderstanding Democratic Backsliding
If democracies did a better job “delivering” for their citizens, so the thinking goes, people would not be so ready to embrace antidemocratic alternatives. Not so. This conventional wisdom about democratic backsliding is seldom true and often not accurate at all.
The Kremlin Emboldened: Paradoxes of Decline
The Russian system of personalized power is growing ever more dependent on the same strategies that proved useless in sustaining the USSR. While the system still has the potential to limp along, its survival tactics render the it progressively more dysfunctional. Among the circumstances weighing against the system’s survival are the unintended yet logical consequences…
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Corruption in India: Can the Right to Information Help?
India’s Right to Information Act discourages corruption by giving every citizen the right to access information from any public authority.
April 2008, Volume 19, Issue 2
China: From Prison to Freedom
Why has China's transition to democracy been so delayed, and what can be done to hasten it?
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Challenge and Change in East Asia: Taiwan’s Year of Stress
Thanks to a disputed presidential election and a narrowly divided parliament, Taiwan's politics remains tense. Yet the worst of the conflicts that gripped the island seem to have eased, and the difficult political events of the last few years may have some beneficial effects after all.
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Challenge and Change in East Asia: Indonesia’s Quest for Accountable Governance
Despite the tsunami tragedy, Indonesians at least can look back on the political events of 2004 with pride. Their country successfully held three major elections and produced a legitimate government. Now the main challenge is to secure regular governmental accountability.
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Ukraine’s Orange Revolution: Kuchma’s Failed Authoritarianism
Desperate to secure victory for its own candidate in the 2004 presidential election, the incumbent regime undertook an unprecedented campaign of blatant election fraud. But it had underestimated the citizenry that it was trying to deceive.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
How People View Democracy: Between Stability and Crisis in Latin America
Across Latin America, public support for democracy has been remarkably stable and consistently higher than satisfaction with the way that democracy works. Low institutional trust reflects even lower levels of interpersonal trust.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Is Pakistan the (Reverse) Wave of the Future?
Pakistan’s descent into authoritarian rule starkly depicts the “triple crisis of governance” that threatens many third-wave democracies. If these problems of governance are not addressed, a new “reverse wave” of democratization could be imminent.