July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
How Resilient Is the CCP?
Xi Jinping undercut China’s political norms to cement his own power and brand of rule. But in so doing the “Chairman of Everything” has introduced new vulnerabilities for the regime.
2848 Results
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January 2022, Volume 33, Issue 1
The Puzzle of Panamanian Exceptionalism
Despite a turbulent history and rampant corruption, Panama has emerged as one of Latin America’s richest and most stable democracies. How can this be?
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Africans’ Durable Demand for Democracy
The latest survey wave finds Africans with a still-robust demand for democratic governance, unblunted by covid or Chinese influence. Can governments deliver?
October 2020, Volume 31, Issue 4
The Authoritarian Assault on Knowledge
Universities, publishers, and other knowledge-sector institutions face increasingly sophisticated authoritarian efforts to quash critics and subvert independent inquiry.
October 2020, Volume 31, Issue 4
Covid vs. Democracy: South Africa’s Lockdown Misfire
South Africa’s government sought to heed expert advice with its covid lockdown, yet shortcomings in state capacity fatally undermined both the virus response and efforts to address its devastating economic toll.
July 2020, Volume 31, Issue 3
Authoritarian Survival: Iran’s Republic of Repression
The Islamic Republic is in a volatile, even prerevolutionary situation, hammered by foreign opposition and sanctions from the outside, and the disillusionment and discontent of its own people from within. But a catalyst needs to appear.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
An Illiberal India?
The country’s hold on electoral democracy is firm, but its claim still to be a liberal democracy is increasingly dubious.
October 2018, Volume 29, Issue 4
Why National Identity Matters
From enhancing physical security to encouraging mutual trust, an inclusive sense of national identity continues to be crucial to the flourishing of modern states.
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Explaining Eastern Europe: Slovakia’s Conflicting Camps
The political turmoil following a journalist’s murder in Slovakia has revealed serious dangers to the country’s democratic institutions.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
Macedonia: A New Beginning?
This small Balkan country has been plagued with crises of identity both internal and external. But recent developments, including a democratic change of government via the ballot box, have created an opportunity to find a better path.
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
The Freedom House Survey for 2016: The Dual Threat of Populists and Autocrats
In 2016, established democracies figured prominently on the list of countries experiencing declines in freedom, while emboldened autocracies stepped up their repression at home and interference abroad.
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
Jordan and Morocco: The Palace Gambit
Two of the Arab world’s more liberal regimes, the kingdoms of Jordan and Morocco, are sometimes said to be evolving toward democracy. Is this true, and what are the longer-term prospects for these two monarchies?
January 2017, Volume 28, Issue 1
The Fading of the Anti-Coup Norm
Following the end of the Cold War, an international norm against coups began gaining strength, but it seems to have lost momentum in recent years. What has happened?
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
The Assault on Postcommunist Courts
A number of countries in East-Central Europe are facing a grave crisis of constitutional democracy. As their governments seek to undermine the institutional limits on their power, constitutional courts have become a central target.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
After the Arab Spring: Caught in History’s Crosswinds
We are still struggling to understand the mostly bitter harvest of the Arab Spring, but there are a few lessons that can be drawn.
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Africa’s Waning Democratic Committment
Since the mid-2000s, democratization in Africa has faltered, in large part due to its elites’ waning commitment to democracy.
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
China’s Challenge
As China’s power grows, will it seek to remake the world in its authoritarian image? For now, China shows no such missionary impulse, but the ways in which it pursues its interests can still threaten the fate of democracy.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The Maidan and Beyond: The Russia Factor
The regime of Vladimir Putin has been a key driver of the crisis in Ukraine. Under challenge at home for several years now, it turned to Ukraine in part to firm up its own grip on power in Russia.
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
The Legacies of 1989: Myths and Realities of Civil Society
The changes that civil societies in Central and Eastern Europe have experienced since communism’s fall are real, but often misunderstood.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
The Durability of Revolutionary Regimes
Authoritarian regimes that have their origins in revolutionary struggle have a much higher survival rate than other brands of authoritarianism. What accounts for their durability?