April 2024, Volume 35, Issue 2
Power, Performance, and Legitimacy
Around the world, democracy has lost steam. If we are to regain the momentum, we must harness these essential elements and wage the struggle with the conviction that the times demand.
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July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Enrolling India
A review of How India Became Democratic: Citizenship and the Making of the Universal Franchise by Ornit Shani.
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
When Democracy Is on the Ballot
Democracy is on dangerous ground when its fundamental rules become the main point of political contention. This is where we are today. The truth is that the institutions, not just the players, need to change.
Democracy’s Frontline Defenders
Across the globe, the people who run our elections are being undermined, targeted, and attacked. Here is how to shore them up—and protect democratic institutions, too. | By Fernanda Buril and Erica Shein
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Courage Tribute acceptance speeches from the World Movement for Democracy’s Ninth Assembly in Dakar, Senegal; Organization of American States (OAS) statement on Cuba’s presidential succession; French president Emmanual Macron’s address before the European Parliament; report by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.K. Parliament on Russian money laundering
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a statement by Yugoslav presidential candidate Vojislav Kostunica; Mexican president Vicente Fox’s inaugural address; the declaration of Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad.
July 2017, Volume 28, Issue 3
Central Asia’s Globalized Despots
A review of Dictators Without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia by Alexander Cooley and John Heathershaw.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
Delivering for Democracy: Why Results Matter
Voters around the world are losing faith in democracy’s ability to deliver and increasingly turning toward more authoritarian alternatives. To restore citizens’ confidence, democracies must show they can make progress without sacrificing accountability.
China’s Threat to Global Democracy
The Chinese Communist Party is deadly serious about its authoritarian designs, and it is bent on promoting them. It is time for the world’s democracies to get serious, too. | Michael Beckley and Hal Brands
July 2023, Volume 34, Issue 3
Why India’s Democracy Is Dying
Under Narendra Modi, India is maintaining the trappings of democracy while it increasingly harasses the opposition, attacks minorities, and stifles dissent. It can still reverse course, but the damage is mounting.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Polarization versus Democracy
Why do ordinary people vote to return to office undemocratic incumbents? New survey experiments in several countries suggest that many voters are willing to put their partisan interests above democratic principles—a finding that may be key to understanding democratic backsliding.
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…
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: incumbent Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s inaugural address; The Doha Declaration for Democracy and Reform issued by a conference in Doha sponsored by Qatar University’s Center for Gulf Studies; speech opening the conference by Qatar’s Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani; inaugural speech by newly elected Serbian president Boris Tadić of the Democratic Party.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: remarks by Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and president of the European parliament Jerzy Buzek given to mark the tenth anniversary of the Community of Democracies; the inaugural address of president of the Philippines Benigno S. (Noynoy) Aquino III.
Just a month after its introduction, ChatGPT, the generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, hit 100-million monthly users, making it the fastest-growing application in history. For context, it took the video-streaming service Netflix, now a household name, three-and-a-half years to reach one-million monthly users. But unlike Netflix, the meteoric rise of ChatGPT and its potential for…
October 2023, Volume 34, Issue 4
How AI Threatens Democracy
Generative AI can flood the media, internet, and even personal correspondence, sowing confusion for voters and government officials alike. If we fail to act, mounting mistrust will polarize our societies and tear at our institutions.
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.
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Russian political activist Alexi Navalny’s final appeal of politically motivated defamation charges; Burmese permanent representative to the UN Kyaw Moe Tun’s denunciation of the coup; lyrics of the prodemocracy Cuban rap “Patria y Vida”; an interview with Ugandan presidential candidate Bobi Wine; statement of the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
Ballots, Bribes, and State Building in Bulgaria
The successful completion of yet another general election should dispel any residual doubts about Bulgarian democracy. But the election results made clear that the country now faces a new set of challenges.
January 2010, Volume 21, Issue 1
Twenty Years of Postcommunism: The Other Transition
Read the full essay here. The recent history of Eastern Europe can best be understood as a transition to a new social contract between the postcommunist state that emerged from its communist predecessor and the postcommunist citizen who evolved from the communist subject. It is the relationship between state and society under communism that best…