January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
China and East Asian Democracy: The Coming Wave
If there is going to be a great advance of democracy in this decade, it is most likely going to emanate from East Asia.
3160 Results
is méxico at the gates of authoritarianism pdf
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
A New Approach to Postwar Reconstruction
As countries emerge from war and embark on recovery, the risk of corruption is high and the consequences are dire. International aid must be accompanied by an anticorruption strategy that incorporates community-driven accountability.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: writings by Human rights activist Elena Bonner on the situation in Chechnya; the first state address of Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri; the African Union’s New Africa Initiative; Organization of American States General Assembly Resolution 1753.
January 2022, Volume 33, Issue 1
Exchange: Why the Future Is (Still) Democratic
The “democratic deconsolidation” thesis is overblown. Emancipative values continue to spread worldwide, and clearly point to brighter democratic days ahead.
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 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Russian Democracy in Eclipse: What the Polls Tell Us
The first flush of democratic hopes has faded, as the recent elections have emphasized. But the democratic idea has a foothold, and the presidential machine that swept those elections will not have an easy time retaining its sway.
July 1996, Volume 7, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui’s inaugural address; a ten-point declaration of a summit of more than a dozen Nigerian prodemocracy groups; an “Inter-American Convention Against Corruption”; resolutions adopted by Burma’s National League for Democracy.
July 1997, Volume 8, Issue 3
Theory in Pursuit of Practice
A review of The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions, by Stephan Haggard and Robert R. Kaufman.
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
Russia’s Road to Autocracy
Thirty years after the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia is firmly in the grip of an autocrat. Where did Russia’s path go wrong?
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
Is Mexico Falling into the Authoritarian Trap?
A weakened mandate from voters and perennial state dysfunction are putting Mexico’s populist president in a bind. Will he further damage democracy to fulfill his promises for change?
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: South African President Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech; Salvadoran president Armando Calderón Sol’s inaugural speech; a presentation speech by Yelena Bonner, the widow of Andrei D. Sakharov.
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: portions of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's closing statement at his fraud trial on 10 November 2010; the Casablanca Call for Democracy and Human Rights; an open letter written by two dozen former officials of the People’s Republic of China Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress; a UN resolution establishing the special rapporteur on freedom…
January 1998, Volume 9, Issue 1
India: Running the World’s Biggest Elections
Read the full essay here.
January 2024, Volume 35, Issue 1
Gulf States and Sharp Power: Allies to Adversaries
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are spreading their influence across borders. A new dangerous chapter between the Gulf monarchies and the West has begun.
Winter 1990, Volume 1, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a declaration by the Federation for a Democratic China; the preamble to the “guiding principles” of the Beijing Works Autonomous Federation; principles accepted by the South West People’s Association, a Namibian political party; a letter by Cardinal František Tomašek; a political program by the Czechoslovak Civic Forum; an announcement by the East German…
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
How Maduro Stole Venezuela’s Vote
Nicolás Maduro brazenly stole Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, despite a free, fair, and transparent ballot count that showed a clear opposition victory. Why would an autocrat want to maintain one of the world’s best voting systems?
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
How Autocrats Use Proxies to Control the Media
Propaganda is autocrats’ weapon of first resort, allowing them to rely on persuasion rather than violence to achieve their ends. But citizens have grown savvy, so autocrats are taking a new tack: spreading their messages via private news outlets indirectly controlled by regime proxies.
China and the Battle for the Global South
Beijing is bent on curbing democratic freedoms and imposing totalitarianism at home and abroad. The following Journal of Democracy essays dissect China’s influence operations and offer ways for even fragile democracies to combat autocratic influence.
October 2007, Volume 18, Issue 4
Is East-Central Europe Backsliding?
The Editors’ introduction to “Is East-Central Europe Backsliding?”