January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
The Cutting Edge of Sharp Power
Democratic societies must address the spread of technology developed in authoritarian settings while continuing to uphold democratic norms.
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glove collectors society presidents 1989-2019 DG JI
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
Russia’s Ukraine Obsession
Lacking any ideas for shoring up Russian society, Putin has settled on picking a fight with Ukraine.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
Fear and Learning in the Arab Uprisings
Demonstrators in Algeria and Sudan have drawn on the experiences of earlier Arab protest movements in their efforts to push for lasting change.
October 2018, Volume 29, Issue 4
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: The Lessons of Bolivia
A disconnect between Bolivia’s old party system and the country’s deeper social-cleavage structure led to a massive shift in politics there. What lessons might be drawn for other nations?
January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1
Exchange: How to Tell Nativists from Populists
Contra Ben Margulies, one can clearly mark the boundaries that separate antidemocrats from democrats (nativists included), and nativists from populists.
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
The Specter Haunting Europe: Populism and Protest in Poland
Once the poster child for successful postcommunist transitions to democracy, Poland is now governed by populist nationalists. What happened?
April 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2
The Freedom House Survey for 2015: Anxious Dictators, Wavering Democrats
In 2015, the tenth consecutive year of decline in global freedom, the world was battered by overlapping crises, spurring harsh authoritarian crackdowns and revealing the leading democracies’ lack of conviction.
January 2016, Volume 27, Issue 1
The Authoritarian Threat: The Hijacking of “Soft Power”
Although the leading authoritarian regimes are today integrated in many ways into the global system, they have not become more like the democracies; instead, they have been devising policies and practices aimed at blocking democracy’s advance.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Hungary’s U-Turn: Retreating from Democracy
The great achievements of Hungary’s 1989–90 transition—including democracy, rule of law, market-oriented reform, and pluralism in intellectual life—are being dismantled as the world looks the other way.
April 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2
The Authoritarian Resurgence: Iran’s Paradoxical Regime
Iran’s authoritarianism is more flexible and more durable than its detractors would hope, yet more fragile and endangered than its defenders claim.
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
The Legacies of 1989: The Moving Ruins
Communism is gone, but while it was alive and in power it bred profound moral pathologies that still haunt the region.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Latin America’s Authoritarian Drift: Technocratic Populism in Ecuador
President Rafael Correa, now entering his third term, has built a curious form of populist-authoritarian regime. He champions redistributionism and a kind of technocratic leftism while assaulting the traditional left along with such mainstays of a liberal society as the freedom of the press.
April 2013, Volume 24, Issue 2
Lessons from Latin America: Building Institutions on Weak Foundations
A particular pattern of institutional change—“serial replacement”—is dominant in Latin America and other developing countries with weak institutional contexts. This pattern is characterized by institutional change that is both frequent and radical.
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
European Disintegration? The Sources of Extremism
The EU is experiencing a somewhat paradoxical phenomenon: On the one hand, it has been a tremendously successful club, promoting democracy and open societies within its borders and in its neighborhoods. On the other hand, the language of national rivalry and of class struggle is re-entering public discourse, especially within the eurozone.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Do New Democracies Support Democracy? Indonesia Finds a New Voice
Since its transition to democracy barely a decade ago, Indonesia has begun projecting its newly democratic values across international borders. So far, however, its efforts have been largely rhetorical.
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
Liberation Technology: The Battle for the Chinese Internet
In China, the Internet is not merely contested space between citizen and government. It is also a catalyst for social and political transformation, offering the possibility of better governance with greater citizen participation.
April 2009, Volume 20, Issue 2
The 2008 Freedom House Survey: A Third Year of Decline
Although 2008 was marked by democratic setbacks as well as authoritarian “pushback” against reformers, democracy remains the only system of government that commands global respect.
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
Islamist Parties and Democracy: Why They Can’t be Democratic
Read the full essay here. This article makes a case of the basic distinction between Islam and Islamism and presents three central arguments: 1. through religious reforms and a rethinking of the Islamic doctrine, the cultural system of Islam can be put in harmony with democracy, 2. this (first) argument does not apply to Islamism…
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
The Crisis in Kenya
For years Kenya was regarded as one of Africa’s sturdiest democracies. The fraudulent 2007 presidential election, however, exposed the fragility of Kenya’s democratic framework.
April 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2
Constitutional Design for Divided Societies
Constitution writers in ethnically or otherwise divided countries should focus on designing a system of power-sharing rules and institutions. Studies by political scientists point to a set of basic recommendations that should form a starting point for constitutional negotiations.