1574 Results
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
The journalistic and policy communities have been alive with speculation as to whether Islamist groups involved in politics—including Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Palestine’s Hamas— are true believers in democracy or calculating pragmatists who, in Steven Cook’s words, are “seeking to use democratic procedures in order to advance an antidemocratic agenda.”
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
The most important aspects of Morocco's September 2007 parliamentary election may have been things that did not happen: The Islamists did not win, and many citizens either did not vote or spoiled their ballots.
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
Five years after the close of a horrifying civil war, Sierra Leone held the freest elections in its history. Voters turned out the party that had overseen the war's end, blaming it for having mishandled governance since then.
October 2007, Volume 18, Issue 4
The real danger in East-Central Europe comes not from populist ideology or attempts to subvert democracy, but rather from the manipulation of democratic procedures by those in power.
October 2007, Volume 18, Issue 4
To understand how East-Central European societies have evolved since 1989, we must understand the building blocks that contribute to the establishment and functioning of open societies.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
Measurements that rely on perceptions of corruption can be misleading. What is needed is a method of gauging how well a country has set itself up to defend public integrity systematically and in all its dimensions.
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
Despite some moves toward liberalization in the past three decades, all Arab-majority countries remain authoritarian. Nonetheless, opinion surveys show that popular support for democracy in this part of the world is high.
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
In three of the six democracies surveyed by the East Asia Barometer, a majority of respondents prefer democracy to its alternatives. In the other three, however, a lingering nostalgia for authoritarianism stands in the way of democratic consolidation.
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Juan Linz’s 1990 critique of presidentialism in these pages was based largely on the Latin American experience. In the last few years, however, four new Asian democracies have encountered presidential crises. Does Linz’s work hold the secret to what has been ailing these regimes?
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
In the 15 years since the Journal of Democracy‘s inception, democracy has made extraordinary progress. But no challenge is greater than building democratic institutions in postconflict situations.
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
Surveys show that Africans’ commitment to democracy fades over time, but also that their support can be refreshed by alternations in power via elections.
April 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2
Weak or failed states are at the root of many serious global problems, from poverty and AIDS to drug trafficking and terrorism, to the failure of democratic government itself. State-building must become a priority for the world community.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
After falling short in 1992 and 1997, Kenya’s large but fractious opposition coalition swept to victory at the polls in 2002. Transition has arrived, but can democratic transformation follow?
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
A quarter-century after the classic study The Crisis of Democracy was published, three distinguished political scientists find that, though the “crisis” may have disappeared, public confidence is on the decline in almost all the world’s advanced democracies.
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
A country's political regime, regardless of its level of development, affects its social performance. Fewer children die in democracies than in dictatorships.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
The democracy versus “eco-authoritarianism” dilemma is false. The answer is more and better democracy.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
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.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
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.
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
Imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, is best known for his eloquent and incisive essays. Two of them are featured here: “Can It Be That the Chinese People Deserve Only ‘Party-Led Democracy’?” and “Changing the Regime by Changing Society.”
April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
In recent decades, Costa Rican society has evolved and become less deferential. Political arrangements that worked well in the past no longer meet the country’s needs.
