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Winter 1990, Volume 1, Issue 1
The Crumbling of the Soviet Bloc: The Democratic Revolution
Read the full essay here.
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.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Terror, Islam, and Democracy
Although Islamist terror groups invoke a host of religious references, the real source of their ideas is not the Koran but rather Leninism, fascism, and other strains of twentieth-century thought that exalt totalitarian violence.
July 2010, Volume 21, Issue 3
Liberation Technology
The Internet, mobile phones, and other forms of “liberation technology” enable citizens to express opinions, mobilize protests, and expand the horizons of freedom. Autocratic governments are also learning to master these technologies, however. Ultimately, the contest between democrats and autocrats will depend not just on technology, but on political organization and strategy.
October 2013, Volume 24, Issue 4
Tracking the “Arab Spring”: Syria and the Future of Authoritarianism
The Assad regime has been adapting to the new challenges posed by mass uprisings through a process of “authoritarian learning,” and at least some of its methods are being applied elsewhere in the region. Watch an interview with the author.
October 2013, Volume 24, Issue 4
Democracy and the Quality of the State
What is the relationship between high-quality state administration and democracy? A look back at modern Greece and Italy, along with Germany and the United States, provides some insights.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
Putin’s Deep Freeze
A review of Popular Choice and Managed Democracy: The Russian Elections of 1999 and 2000 by Timothy J. Colton and Michael McFaul; Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State by David Satter; and Putin's Russia by Lilia Shevtsova.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
South Asia Faces the Future: Back and Forth in Bangladesh
Recent parliamentary elections showed the continuing strengths and weaknesses of Bangladeshi democracy. Although the country does have strong political parties and a decade of democratic elections, the intense antipathy between government and opposition will continue to cause problems well into the future.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
Slovenia’s Smooth Transition
The story of this small former Yugoslav republic offers an example of how—if circumstances are right—it may be possible for a country to reform its way out of communism and into parliamentary democracy and a market economy.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Ten Years After the Soviet Breakup: The Primacy of History and Culture
The 15 states of the former Soviet fall into three broad categories, largely defined by fault lines of history and culture.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Ten Years After the Soviet Breakup: Sovereignty and Uncertainty in Ukraine
Ukraine has secured its independence, but remains troubled by slow growth, corruption, and an overly strong presidency.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
Politics and Development
A review of Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-being in the World 1950-1990, by Adam Przeworski, Michael E. Alvarez, Jose Antonio Cheibub, and Fernando Limongi.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Comparing East Asia and Latin America: Capital Mobility and Democratic Stability
Despite the persistent doomsaying about the political consequences of untrammeled international capital flows, financial liberalization may actually contribute to democratic consolidation.
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
Eastern Europe: The International Context
Nowhere else has the impact of international factors on democratization been as apparent as in Central and Eastern Europe. Integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures is one particularly strong democratizing force.
Fall 1991, Volume 2, Issue 4
Democracy & Foreign Policy
A review of Exporting Democracy: Fulfilling America’s Destiny, by Joshua Muravchik and Exporting Democracy: The United States and Latin America, edited by Abraham F. Lowenthal.
The People’s Republic at 75
Founded on 1 October 1949, the People’s Republic of China has entered a new age, as Xi centralizes power in his own hands and abandons the ideological openness of the reform era. Carl Minzner explains why China is entering a dangerous new chapter.