783 Results
January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1
Despite worries that terror groups can turn open societies’ very openness against them, the numbers reveal that liberal democracies enjoy significant advantages in resisting the threat of terrorism.
October 2025, Volume 36, Issue 4
Authoritarian regimes are targeting exiles and diaspora communities in more places than ever before. Activists, journalists, and regular people living abroad must watch their backs, because these governments now have the power to suppress dissent even outside their borders.
Chinese citizens from Urumqi to Shanghai took to the streets, blank sheets of white paper in hand, to denounce the CCP and call for change. Xi Jinping’s repression and zero-covid lockdowns has united the public in empathy and anger.
July 2020, Volume 31, Issue 3
Remarks on China from Deputy U.S. National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger; joint statement by David Kaye, Harlem Désir, and Edison Lanza on protecting the free flow of information during the covid-19 pandemic; open letter by Indian academic and Dalit-rights activist Anand Teltumbde; reflections from Joshua Wong on the future of Hong Kong’s prodemocracy movement
October 2025, Volume 36, Issue 4
A Togolese activist and writer on oppression; a Chinese human-rights lawyer’s long detention; a reflection on Serbia’s anticorruption protests; Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya commemorates five years since Belarus’s uprising; a Salvadoran university rejects the constitutional amendment; and Bolivia’s election anthem.
April 2023, Volume 34, Issue 2
Vladimir Putin’s reputation as a skillful leader was buoyed by years of economic good fortune. But when his regime faltered, his rule quickly descended into the fearful, repressive, and paranoid state we see today.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
Democracy’s unique, flexible, and substantial resources make it better than authoritarianism at confronting climate change.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
The case of Hungary shows how autocrats can rig elections legally, using legislative majorities to change the law and neutralize the opposition at every turn, no matter what strategy they adopt.
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
Why are the unfree regimes of the former Soviet world proving so durable? A lack of ideology and—perhaps surprisingly—a degree of openness are proving to be not so much problems for authoritarianism as bulwarks of it.
Iranians are protesting their regime. Why it will only get worse for the mullahs. | By Peyman Asadzade
January 2019, Volume 30, Issue 1
At present, the key struggle for the future of liberal democracy appears as if it will be unfolding among parties and thinkers on the right.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
Many pundits cry for a negotiated settlement to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. But they misunderstand Vladimir Putin’s motives. The only just end to the war will be in the trenches, not at the bargaining table.
Why Emmanuel Macron’s reelection hangs on him winning support from the very people he has ignored most. April 2022 By Moshik Temkin This month’s French presidential election is giving off a strong sense of déjà vu. As in 2017 and 2002, a center-right presidential candidate (this time, current president Emmanuel Macron) faces off in…
July 2011, Volume 22, Issue 3
Despite India’s impressive achievements in democracy, economic development, and the rule of law, it remains home to a third of the world’s poor. Although it has successfully averted famine since independence, it still struggles to prevent chronic hunger.
This is the darkest moment for freedom in half a century. Whether democracy regains its footing will depend on how democratic leaders and citizens respond to emboldened authoritarians and the fissures within their own societies.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Excerpts from: Maria Ressa’s comments on social media at the 2021 Copenhagen Democracy Summit; NGO statement on the arrest of Algerian human-rights defenders; statement denouncing the dismissal of Constitutional Court judges and the attorney general; letter on the sentencing of a Saudi man for allegedly running a satirical Twitter account.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Excerpts from: the Alexandria Declaration, a document emanating from a March 2004 conference on Arab reform convened under the auspices of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak; an initiative on political reform issued by the first Arab Civil Forum on March 22; the Tunis Declaration, issued at the end of the Arab Summit; a response from 34…
October 2020, Volume 31, Issue 4
Through greater savvy engagement with international law, authoritarians are seeking not only to shield themselves from criticism, but to reshape global norms in their favor.
April 2010, Volume 21, Issue 2
How do democracies deal with the deep divisions created by race, ethnicity, religion, and language? The cases of Canada, India, and the United States show that democratic institutions—notably, competitive elections and independent judiciaries—can bridge divides and build stability, but they must find a way to manage the tension between individual and group equality.
