Standing Up to Africa’s Juntas
A string of Kremlin-backed military coups have brought a collection of juntas to power. The West should resist calls to placate them, and instead stick to its values and push for a return to civilian rule.
3273 Results
is méxico at the gates of authoritarianism pdf
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
The Meanings of Democracy: Solving an Asian Puzzle
Over the years, the Asian Barometer Survey has yielded some surprising results. A new typological analysis helps to make sense of them.
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Turkey Under the AKP: The Kurdish Question
Read the full essay here. Turkish state policy toward the Kurds, the Republic of Turkey’s largest ethnic minority, has evolved from denial and mandatory assimilation to cultural recognition to acknowledgment of the Kurds’ contested status as a political problem demanding political solutions. The election of 36 Kurdish-nationalist lawmakers, most of whom now sit in parliament…
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
Nepal: Between Dictatorship and Anarchy
Nepal’s people find themselves caught in an ugly struggle between two antidemocratic ideologies—royal absolutism and Maoism. What happened?
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
The Third Wave’s Lessons for Democracy
When the “third wave” reached Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s, it brought major advances for democracy. By the first decade of the current century, however, advances had given way to stasis and even erosion.
Women Are Leading Venezuela’s Fight for Democracy
When María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, she made sure to emphasize that her accomplishments were not hers alone — they were shared with countless other activists agitating for democracy in Venezuela.
July 2023, Volume 34, Issue 3
Modi’s Undeclared Emergency
Since the beginning of the second Modi government, an emboldened BJP has launched a steady, comprehensive, and unprecedented attack on civil liberties, personal rights, and free speech across India.
January 2009, Volume 20, Issue 1
Democracy Assistance: Political vs. Developmental?
Democracy-aid providers are moving away from one-size-fits-all strategies and are adapting their programs to diverse political contexts. Two distinct overall approaches to assisting democracy have emerged in response.
Global Freedom Is in Decline, But What About Democracy?
Democracy is more resilient than many people realize, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t worrying signs on the horizon.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
Kenya’s Electoral Misfire
Sophisticated technology could not keep Kenya’s August 2017 presidential election from leading to renewed ethnic tensions and a painful standoff from which the country appears only now to be emerging. What went wrong?
January 2013, Volume 24, Issue 1
Papua New Guinea: From Coup to Reconciliation
A 2011 power struggle spawned a crisis that marred Papua New Guinea’s unbroken record of democratic rule. Has the country found its way back?
Why Putin Must Be Defeated
The more determined democracies are to avoid war, the greater the risk that autocracies will wage it.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
High Anxiety in the Andes: The Real Story Behind Venezuela’s Woes
The conventional wisdom about Venezuela’s plight is largely mistaken. Only when Venezuelans recognize the real causes of their woes will they be able to make progress in overcoming them.
Cameroon’s Election Casts a Long Shadow
Cameroonians just reelected the 92-year-old Paul Biya in an election that voters rightly view with suspicion. The tensions under the surface don’t bode well for the country or its people.
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
Islamist Parties and Democracy: Are They Democrats? Does It Matter?
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.”
October 2025, Volume 36, Issue 4
The Threat to Latin American Term Limits
Latin America remains haunted by the specter of “strongman” rule. Term limits have been a way of guarding against this threat, but aspiring autocrats have now found a new avenue to bypass this barrier to power: courts of law.
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
China Since Tiananmen: Middle-Class Mobilization
Read the full essay here. Some of the many China stories to attract attention recently have involved NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) protests by largely middle class crowds gathering to demand a greater say in urban development plans. This article argues that such protests a) are a significant addition to the already complex landscape of…
Why Sanctions Don’t Work Against Dictatorships
From Putin’s invasion to Kim’s nuclear saber rattling, the West has punished the world’s worst regimes. But have sanctions missed their targets?