
Gorbachev’s Enduring Legacy
The last Soviet leader brought down his regime and ended the Cold War. The free world owes him a debt of gratitude.
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The last Soviet leader brought down his regime and ended the Cold War. The free world owes him a debt of gratitude.
The Journal of Democracy has analyzed democracy’s fortunes across the globe, from Ukraine to Afghanistan and the Philippines, from Hungary to Tunisia. Here are our top-ten most-read essays from 2022.
As political polarization deepens in the world’s democracies, political violence is on the rise. And in the wake of these acts, conspiracy theories often bloom. We offer three essays that look at these forces that threaten to upend democracy, and what must be done to overcome them.
Reports on elections in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Serbia, Sint Maarten, and Taiwan.
Commentary on Leslie Anderson and Larry Dodd's July 2009 essay on Nicaragua's 2008 municipal elections.
January 1, 2010
Thomas Friedman discusses Larry Diamond's "Facing up to the Democratic Recession" in a New York Times op-ed.
February 18, 2015
The democratic icon’s path to prime minister has been tortuous and long. But is Malaysia’s pluralism slipping away precisely when Anwar is getting his shot to lead the nation?
Serbs from all walks of life have had enough with their corrupt, inept, and increasingly authoritarian government. Will Serbia’s president be able to withstand the crisis?
On Tuesday, Georgia’s Parliament passed a controversial new law that would brand NGOs and media organizations receiving foreign funding as “foreign agents.” Countries across the globe are following the Russian model and painting liberal-democratic values as malign foreign interference. Read about the strategies autocrats are devising to repress civil society and stifle dissent.
Reports on elections in Belgium, Bulgaria, the European Union, France, Iran, Mauritania, Mongolia, San Marino, and the United Kingdom.
We can learn a lot about the crackdown in Hong Kong if we compare it to Thailand—and vice versa. Autocrats and activists are learning from each other in real time.
Thousands of supporters of the Pakistan Movement for Justice (PTI) took to Islamabad’s streets this week to demand the release of former prime minister Imran Khan. A crisis of governability is coming and might finally be here.
Most are Russian speakers from the east, and once harbored sympathies for Moscow. If the country embraces them, they could form the bedrock of a free and open Ukrainian society.
The escalating conflict between Iran and Israel now includes the United States, and fears are growing that it could become a regional war. But there’s another war that people aren’t talking about: the Islamic Republic’s brutal campaign against its own people.
Vladimir Putin wants to stir patriotic fervor for his war in Ukraine. But most Russians don’t think the war is worth the cost, and it’s putting the Kremlin in a bind.
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion has exposed the fundamental instability of Putinism.
Syria is at a critical juncture. It’s up to the new government — and the people — to chart a more inclusive, transparent, and prosperous way forward. The Journal of Democracy essays below examine the challenges and opportunities Syria now faces.
In December 2024, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, shocking the world and plunging the country into political turmoil. As Joan Cho and Aram Hur argue in the new issue of the Journal of Democracy, the political chaos has revealed deep-seated divisions within South Korean society and politics.
The Mexican military has a larger role governing the country than at any time in the past eighty years. The following Journal of Democracy essays uncover and analyze the democratic and antidemocratic forces at work within Mexico’s institutions.
Mexico’s president recently signed into law a series of reforms that bulldoze the country’s judicial system and eviscerate democratic checks on executive power. Amrit Singh and Gianmarco Coronado Graci explain why this is even worse than it seems.