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?
2552 Results
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October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
Authoritarianism Goes Global (II): Civil Society Under Assault
Once widely celebrated, civil society today is regarded as a threat by many governments, leading them to restrict its funding and activities.
April 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2
Transitional Justice and Its Discontents
The impulse to have crimes against humanity investigated and punished, like the impulse behind “truth and reconciliation” commissions, is understandable. But legalism cannot supersede the hard and messy work of politics.
April 2022, Volume 33, Issue 2
South Africa’s Resilient Democracy
The country’s struggles with crime and corruption led many to tag it as a near-failed state. Yet the Rainbow Nation is in fact an unexpected success story, with a political landscape that is growing more vibrant and diverse.
January 2021, Volume 32, Issue 1
Mainstream Parties in Crisis: Overcoming Polarization
Around the world, polarizing political strategies are pushing societies into a vicious cycle of zero-sum politics and eroding democratic norms. If democracies are to escape this trap, wise choices and innovation by prodemocratic politicians will be needed.
April 2020, Volume 31, Issue 2
The Pushback Against Populism: Why Ecuador’s Referendums Backfired
Populists have often turned to referendums to dismantle a democracy. Democrats should be wary of turning to the same tool to rebuild what was lost. It may only pave the way for populism’s return.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
The Freedom House Survey for 2017: Democracy Beleaguered
In 2017, the state of political rights and civil liberties around the world sunk to its lowest point in more than a decade. While the democratic powers grappled with their own internal problems, leading autocrats expanded their global efforts to undermine democratic institutions.
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 2016, Volume 27, Issue 1
On Democratic Backsliding
Old-fashioned military coups and blatant election-day fraud are becoming mercifully rarer these days, but other, subtler forms of democratic regression are a growing problem that demands more attention.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Growth, Security, and Democracy in Africa
Democracy’s fortunes rose in Africa in the 1990s, but more recently have been in retreat. The forces of democratic resurgence remain in play, however, as a look at the key case of Nigeria suggests.
January 2013, Volume 24, Issue 1
Regime Types and Democratic Sequencing
How should we define the stages of democracy and their sequencing? Although some scholars argue that the rule of law should come first, today it should be viewed as the final piece of the liberal-democratic puzzle.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
The New Competitive Authoritarianism
In recent years competitive authoritarianism has emerged in some countries with relatively strong democratic traditions and institutions.
January 1999, Volume 10, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: the forward of the final report of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission by Chairperson Archbishop Desmond Tutu; a letter to the Vietnamese National Assembly deploring corruption in the Community Party by four Party veterans; an address on democratization in Burma by Kyaw Kyaw of the Thailand-based All Burma Student’s Democratic Front; former…
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Liberation vs. Control: The Future of Cyberspace
Are technologies giving greater voice to democratic activists in authoritarian societies, or more powerful tools to their oppressors?
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
Exploring “Non-Western Democracy”
Often called for but seldom defined with any precision, “non-Western democracy” could end up giving cover to authoritarianism, but also could allow potentially useful democratic innovations to be tried and tested.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
The Rise of Multicultural Nationalism
Some liberals attribute the origins of our polarized political era to “identity politics.” But multiculturalism need not provoke majoritarian anxieties — not if national identities can open ways for all citizens to be recognized and heard.
Putin’s Big Gamble
The Kremlin’s order to call up Russians to fight in Ukraine risks massive protests. It’s the riskiest decision of Putin’s rule, and it could lead to his undoing. | By Robert Person
After Europe: An Interview with Ivan Krastev
Can democratic institutions be turned to exclusionary ends? ~ Why has the ongoing refugee crisis transformed the politics of Central and Eastern European states—despite the fact that these countries host virtually no migrants? ~ And what do demographic and generational changes mean for the liberal consensus that emerged in the wake of communism’s fall? In this thought-provoking…
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
The Specter Haunting Europe: The Unraveling of the Post-1989 Order
What some had thought would be the “end of history” has instead turned out to be the “new world disorder.” Democratic liberalism may have no new ideological rival, but older identities are powerfully reasserting themselves.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
After the Arab Spring: How the Media Trashed the Transitions
The Arab experience shows that the same media that facilitate the toppling of dictators can make it harder to build democracy.