July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
How Zelensky Has Changed Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky is far more than a brave wartime leader. He began changing the tenor and direction of Ukrainian politics long before the people made him their president.
3160 Results
is méxico at the gates of authoritarianism pdf
Can Mexico’s Next President Control the Military?
The Mexican military has a larger role governing the country than at any time in the past eighty years. The following Journal of Democracy essays uncover and analyze the democratic and antidemocratic forces at work within Mexico’s institutions.
January 1992, Volume 3, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a UN Third Committee Resolution on the human rights situation in Burma; Organization of American States (OAS) Resolution 1080; an OAS resolution Haiti; the inaugural speech of Zambian president Chiluba ; Russian president Boris Yeltsin’s; the “Agreement on the Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States; “Fundamental Principles for the Establishment of Peace in…
April 2022, Volume 33, Issue 2
South Africa’s Resilient Democracy
The country’s struggles with crime and corruption led many to tag it as a near-failed state. Yet the Rainbow Nation is in fact an unexpected success story, with a political landscape that is growing more vibrant and diverse.
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
Building Democracy After Conflict: Introduction
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.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Putin versus Civil Society: Outlawing the Opposition
The Putin regime, having faced its first real challenge in the form of mass protests after the 2011 Duma elections, is responding with a series of laws intended to intimidate its civil society opposition, if not stamp it out altogether.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
The Authoritarian Origins of the Third Wave
The “third wave” of democracy started in 1974 — or so the story goes. But the crests and crashes of waves of democracy and authoritarianism have been neglected. A close look can help us understand the current moment, when democracy appears to be in retreat.
January 2010, Volume 21, Issue 1
Twenty Years of Postcommunism: Deepening Dissatisfaction
Today, twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there is a growing ambiguity about the historical significance of 1989 and about the state of democracy in Europe (particularly Central Europe).
January 2021, Volume 32, Issue 1
Thieves’ Paradise
A review of Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World, by Tom Burgis.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Comparing the Arab Revolts: The Impact of Election Systems
Methods of electing legislatures are fraught with consequences for the shape and quality of democracy, and must balance a number of competing goals. Amid the current political ferment of the Arab world, what kinds of electoral systems are emerging and what will they mean for democratic hopes there?
Spring 1991, Volume 2, Issue 2
The Nations of the USSR
A review of Hidden Nations: The People Challenge the Soviet Union, by Nadia Diuk and Adrian Karatnycky.
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Challenge and Change in East Asia: Indonesia’s Quest for Accountable Governance
Despite the tsunami tragedy, Indonesians at least can look back on the political events of 2004 with pride. Their country successfully held three major elections and produced a legitimate government. Now the main challenge is to secure regular governmental accountability.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Is Iran Democratizing? Reform at an Impasse
Once again, a reformist electoral victory has been followed by political setbacks. The key to understanding this paradoxical pattern lies in the unique theocratic constitutional structure of the Islamic Republic.
January 1997, Volume 8, Issue 1
A Laureate’s Lament
A review of The Open Sore of a Continent: A Personal Narrative of the Nigerian Crisis, by Wole Soyinka.
Summer 1990, Volume 1, Issue 3
Technology and Freedom
A review of Power, Press, and the Technology of Freedom: The Coming Age of ISDN, by Leonard R. Sussman.
January 2000, Volume 11, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a statement by Cuban dissidents entitled “All United”; a letter by former dissidents of the Soviet bloc to the so-called “Group of Four” critics of the Castro regime in Cuba; an address delivered by the Commonwealth’s outgoing secretary-general Chief Emeka Anayaoku; the “Seoul Statement” on human rights in North Korea; Abdurrahman Wahid’s speech…
Fall 1991, Volume 2, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: speeches and declarations issued in the course of the failed USSR coup; speeches presented at the First Ibero-American Summit; Charter 91, signed by more than 100 Iraqi expatriates.
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
The “Alteration Effect” in Africa
Surveys show that Africans’ commitment to democracy fades over time, but also that their support can be refreshed by alternations in power via elections.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Democracy, Dictatorship, and Infant Mortality Revisited
New data covering most of the 1990s reveal that democracy, even when minimally defined, has a potent independent impact that tends to reduce infant mortality and promote overall social well-being.
January 2021, Volume 32, Issue 1
Is Meritocracy Just?
A review of The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? by Michael J. Sandel.