2442 Results
ABOUT THE EVENT A populist and illiberal tide is gaining strength across the globe, posing a serious threat to liberal democracy. Prominent political scientists and commentators William A. Galston and Yascha Mounk discussed the factors fueling populism’s rise and how democracies can effectively respond. Both Galston and Mounk have written articles addressing these questions that appear in the April…
April 3, 2018
Ten of the former ambassador’s best JoD essays spanning the last thirty years.
Latin American voters are aggrieved, impatient, and eager to elect candidates who offer a break with the past—sometimes whatever that break may be. This factor, combined with high crime and middling economic growth, has led to wild swings and shrinking political rights. But can the region get itself unstuck?
Coups are a direct assault on democracy. And militaries can be pivotal to whether a coup succeeds or fails. The following Journal of Democracy essays examine what makes coups more likely, and how democracies can keep the military brass from seizing power.
China’s totalitarian regime is built on surveillance, censorship, and repression, with harsh penalties for anyone who dares to defy it. Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party have ambitions that extend beyond China’s borders. The following Journal of Democracy essays explore how China undermines democracy both at home and abroad. Read for free now.
"Seymour Martin Lipset passed away eleven years ago. . . . Today, his prolific scholarship remains as timely and influential as when he was an actively engaged author," writes Mildred A. Schwartz in a post for the blog of Oxford University Press on the enduring relevance of Seymour Martin Lipset. Read the whole tribute here.
April 4, 2017
Hong Kong law professor Benny Tai, who on April 24 received a sixteen-month prison sentence in connection with his role in the 2014 Occupy Central movement, reflected in the April 2019 Journal on the significance of the Tiananmen Square protests for Hong Kong’s democrats. Read a shortened version of his essay at the Diplomat.
May 1, 2019
Mexico’s president recently signed into law a series of reforms that bulldoze the country’s judicial system and eviscerate democratic checks on executive power. Amrit Singh and Gianmarco Coronado Graci explain why this is even worse than it seems.
The “year of elections” is entering its final stretch, and the contests of 2024 have run the gamut. We saw landslides, charades, and — in democratic and authoritarian settings alike — a fair number of surprises. What were the most significant elections of the year so far?
Mexico launched a radical overhaul of its judiciary on June 1 with its first-ever judicial election. The controversial plan risks weakening judicial independence, checks on presidential power, and democracy itself.
The attack on Donald Trump is one of the worst instances of political violence in recent years. Such violence is the result of a moment in which people begin to see their political opponents as enemies instead of citizens of a different political stripe.
Don’t miss these must-read essays from the latest issue of the Journal of Democracy, free for a limited time, on Venezuela, Georgia, Bangladesh, global support for democracy, and more.
Mikhail Gorbachev risked everything. Neither Russia nor the West could live up to his vision.
The far-right AfD surged ahead in the European Union elections. It is now one of Germany’s dominant parties, and not just part of the fringe.
The quick reversal of President Yoon’s martial-law order is being celebrated as a democratic victory. But the problems run deeper than one man. What comes next?
South Koreans have elected Lee Jae-myung president. Will he be a pragmatic democratic reformer? Or will he continue the polarizing political warfare of recent South Korean leaders?
ABOUT THE EVENT The reasons for the failure of democracy to take hold in Russia and for its current backsliding in Central Europe are complex, but one important and often neglected factor is what Ivan Krastev (in a July 2018 article in the Journal of Democracy) has called “Imitation and Its Discontents.” Following the collapse of communism, the…
November 5, 2018
Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began one year ago. The war has inflicted a heavy toll on Russia in addition to the mass carnage in Ukraine. But Ukrainians are fighting valiantly and finding creative means of resistance.
A week from today, voters across all 27 European Union countries will head to the polls to elect the next European Parliament. The following Journal of Democracy essays chronicle the far right’s rise across Europe and consider the dangers it presents in the region and beyond.
As political polarization deepens in the world’s democracies, political violence is on the rise. And in the wake of these acts, conspiracy theories often bloom. We offer three essays that look at these forces that threaten to upend democracy, and what must be done to overcome them.
