Election Results—June and July 2024
Reports on elections in Belgium, Bulgaria, the European Union, France, Iran, Mauritania, Mongolia, San Marino, and the United Kingdom.
1720 Results
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How Guatemalans Are Defending Their Democracy
They are organized, nonviolent, and they have come out in great numbers. Guatemalans may also be writing the script on how to defeat democracy’s enemies.
Do Referendums Really Empower the People?
When voters are asked to cast ballots for or against important national policies — whether to draft or adopt a new constitution, to abolish or reinstate term limits, or, perhaps most famously, to leave or remain in the European Union — they take that job seriously. Yet national referendums are not always put forward in…
Why the Defenders of Liberal Democracy Need to Stand Up
If liberal norms and institutions are to prevail, they need to be defended from the left and the right.
A Dictator’s Day in Court
Tunisia’s president is looking to strengthen his chokehold on the country.
Election Results—July 2024
Reports on elections in Rwanda, Syria, and Venezuela.
Election Observers Are Human-Rights Defenders
Election observers are the first line of defense for democratic rights and freedoms. The essays below highlight the importance of election monitoring, especially in highly polarized, autocratic settings, the dangers that observers face, and the repercussions of rigged contests.
Why Putin Must Be Defeated
The more determined democracies are to avoid war, the greater the risk that autocracies will wage it.
Why Georgia Has Erupted in Protest
The country is at risk of collapsing into a full Russian autocracy, and Georgians understand it as a make-or-break moment. The strength and resolve of the country’s civil society will decide the outcome.
Why Ukraine’s Millions of Displaced People Will Define Its Future
Most are Russian speakers from the east, and once harbored sympathies for Moscow. If the country embraces them, they could form the bedrock of a free and open Ukrainian society.
Why Georgia’s Democracy Is Collapsing
The ruling party is growing more repressive as it draws from Vladimir Putin’s playbook. If the opposition is to push back successfully, they must first unify.
Why Dictators Fear Universal Jurisdiction
It may be the best weapon we have for holding autocrats accountable for their crimes, and the world’s democracies are beginning to rally behind it.
Election Results—April 2024
Reports on elections in Croatia, Kuwait, the Maldives, Senegal, Slovakia, the Solomon Islands, and South Korea.
Rod Alence and Anne Pitcher on South Africa’s elections
At the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage, read Alence and Pitcher’s take on South Africa’s 8 May 2019 national elections, and stay tuned for an expanded analysis in the October 2019 JoD. Plus, read Alence’s 2004 Journal article (free through May 31) for a deeper look into the history of South Africa’s democracy.
Why Militaries Support Presidential Coups
If you want to understand why generals support a presidential power grab, then you need to understand the logic that motivates them. Why they leave the barracks — and what we must do to get them to stand down.
Did Muhammad Yunus Sign Up for Mission Impossible?
The famed economist and Nobel laureate is charged with repairing what remains of Bangladesh’s democracy. But is someone even as accomplished as Yunus up to the task?
Election Results—May and June 2024
Reports on elections in Chad, the Dominican Republic, Iceland, India, Iran, Lithuania, Mexico, North Macedonia, Panama, South Africa, and Togo.
How Repression (and Protest) Gets Repeated
We can learn a lot about the crackdown in Hong Kong if we compare it to Thailand—and vice versa. Autocrats and activists are learning from each other in real time.