Why Pakistan Always Seems on the Brink of Collapse
The military has spent decades trying to impose order on Pakistani politics. It has led to chaos.
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July 2006, Volume 17, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Akbar Gangi’s acceptance speech of the Golden Pen Award; a speech by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo; the “Manifesto for a European Democracy Foundation”; the “2006 Declaration on Freedom and Democracy for Vietnam.”
For Xi Jinping, the Economy Is No Longer the Priority
By Guoguang Wu | Beijing’s focus has been on strong and steady economic growth for decades. But China’s leader has just put an end to that era. For Xi, it’s only about power—at home and abroad.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a statement by a group of NGOs on China; a speech by former prime minister of Moldova Maia Sandu; a speech by Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed; an open letter calling for free and fair elections in Russia.
October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Burma’s National Unity Government statement on execution of four prodemocracy activists by military junta; UN Human Rights Commission report on the treatment of Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region; international NGO statement on closure of Uganda’s leading LGBTQ rights advocacy organization; the Prague Manifesto for a Free Ukraine; Zov, a Russian soldier’s memoir.
Polishing Off Populism in Authoritarian Thailand
Thailand’s current crisis may finally end the cycle of populism and polarization that has crippled its democratic aspirations. But it is also revealing that there are far worse forces undermining Thai democracy.
Why Does the Kremlin Bother Holding Sham Elections?
Everyone knows that Russia’s election is a fraud. The problem is no dictator ever feels safe enough, and Putin thinks even a fake election will signal to his cronies that he’s still in charge.
October 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a statement by the Sudanese Forces for Freedom and Change; a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; a speech by journalist Maria Ressa; a speech by Hong Kong democracy activist and musician Denise Ho; a speech by Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa; a statement by Konstantin Kotov.
How Thai Activists Outsmarted the Generals
The regime tilted the playing field to its advantage, but it didn’t matter. Thailand’s opposition won with creativity, shrewd tactics, and a strategy that united the people. | Srdja Popovic and Steve Parks
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
Who Decides What Is Democratic?
The “crisis” of democracy is a crisis of representation. New parties, some of which are populist in troublingly illiberal ways, are arising from this moment. The danger that they pose is not that they are antidemocratic, but that they are antiliberal.
October 2025, Volume 36, Issue 4
Why Bitcoin Is Freedom Money
Today, governments can see who buys what, who pays whom, and who donates to which cause. But they cannot easily trace or confiscate Bitcoin. The digital currency offers a lifeline to democratic movements operating in the most repressive places.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilve’s speech in Oslo, Norway; Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech; Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán's shocking speech in favor of an “illiberal” state; an open letter by senior members of the Communist Party of Vietnam calling for an end to communism; the inaugural address of Colombian…
January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1
The Rise of Kleptocracy: Laundering Cash, Whitewashing Reputations
To safeguard their ill-gotten gains, kleptocrats rely on a web of transnational relationships and the complicity of Western fixers.
October 2020, Volume 31, Issue 4
How Authoritarians Use International Law
Through greater savvy engagement with international law, authoritarians are seeking not only to shield themselves from criticism, but to reshape global norms in their favor.
July 2023, Volume 34, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Activist Xu Zhiyong on the Imperative for a Democratic China; Historian Timothy Snyder on “Russophobia”; Fadzayi Mahere on why Zimbabwe is a tragedy; a call for the release of the speaker of Tunisia’s parliament, Rached Ghannouchi; a Burmese student recounts her experience as a strike leader following the 2021 military coup.
January 2019, Volume 30, Issue 1
Illiberal Democracy and the Struggle on the Right
At present, the key struggle for the future of liberal democracy appears as if it will be unfolding among parties and thinkers on the right.
How Turkey’s Opposition Won Big
Less than a year after a bitter loss, the opposition dealt Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling party their largest electoral defeat in decades. The question is whether they can now build on their success.
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 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
The Populist Challenge to Liberal Democracy
Across the West, economic, demographic, and cultural shifts have spurred the rise of populists who embrace majoritarianism and popular sovereignty while showing little commitment to constitutionalism and individual liberty.
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…