October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Nigeria Votes: More Openness, More Conflict
Nigeria’s 2011 presidential election offered its citizens the most competitive and transparent contest in decades, but also the bloodiest.
2855 Results
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July 2006, Volume 17, Issue 3
Reforming Intelligence: South Africa After Apartheid
On the surface, intelligence-sector reform since the fall of apartheid has been a model of success, but the growing politicization of security-sector forces by the ruling ANC may pose a threat to the consolidation of South Africa's young democracy.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
Decentralizing for a Deeper, More Supple Democracy
Can decentralization deepen democracy or is it doomed to weaken the state? If well designed, decentralization can have a positive impact on national unity, conflict mitigation, policy autonomy, service delivery, and social learning.
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Cross-Currents in Latin America
A survey of the region yields a patchwork result, with democratic governance faring well in some countries, at a standstill in others, and in the most worrisome cases actively eroding.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
Europe Moves Eastward: Beyond the New Borders
By expanding itself eastward, the EU has not so much settled the questions surrounding the “borders” of Europe as it has displaced them, changing their focus to take in new areas and new issues.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
Neoliberalism and the Third Wave
Democracy across the world is being undermined by the very forces that once made it possible: the liberal economic order and political competition. The global concentration of wealth has made democratic governance less effective and stripped the people of their power.
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
What’s in a Name?
A review of What Is Populism? by Jan-Werner Müller.
July 2007, Volume 18, Issue 3
The Democracy Barometers (Part I): Formal versus Informal Institutions in Africa
Survey data indicate that Africans support democracy and its formal institutions, but also point to the importance of the informal realm, particularly when formal institutions fail to meet popular expectations.
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
The New Iraq: The Sistani Factor
For the Shi'ite majority and its senior religious leader, the January elections played out against the background of a longing for justice that has deep spiritual sources as well as more recent sociopolitical roots.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Success Stories from “Emerging Africa”
A group of countries in sub-Saharan Africa are showing they can sustain economic growth, reduce poverty, and achieve better governance at the same time.
April 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2
Christianity and Democracy: The Ambivalent Orthodox
Orthodoxy’s difficult historical experiences have made it ambivalent toward democatic pluralism, but that may be changing, with believers in established democacies leading the way.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Latin America’s Lost Illusions: A Road with No Return?
What can public-opinion research tell us about the staying power of democracy in the region? Has it passed the point of any possible return to authoritarianism?
January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1
The Rise of Kleptocracy: Autocrats versus Activists in Africa
Central African autocrats are using their stolen money to outmaneuver opponents and deflect international criticism.
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Argentina, Croatia, Guatemala, Jordan, Kiribati, Madagascar, Nauru, Oman, Poland, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine.
Why NATO Is More Than Democracy’s Best Defense
On its 75th anniversary, the Atlantic Alliance should be celebrated for being more than the world’s greatest military compact. It’s an engine of democracy’s advance.
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: “Twelve Suggestions for Dealing with the Tibet Situation,” by 29 Chinese intellectuals; a speech given by European Commission president José Manuel Barroso at the formal launch of the European Foundation for Democracy through Partnership; the “State of the Nation” address delivered by the Movement for Democratic Change’s presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai; International Committee…
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
Democratization by Elections? Postcommunist Ambiguities
Since 1996, eight postcommunist authoritarian rulers have been ousted by “electoral revolutions.” Why have these not succeeded in other postcommunist countries?
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?
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
The Age of Political Fragmentation
Just as public frustration with democracy is mounting across the West, social turmoil and new technologies are splintering the very political authority governments need to act.
January 2013, Volume 24, Issue 1
Egypt: Why Liberalism Still Matters
Egypt’s liberals, though they do not dominate political life and perhapsnever will, remain a crucial force in shaping the country’s politics.