January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1
The Rise of Kleptocracy: Malaysia’s Missing Billions
One of the world’s worst public-corruption scandals shows how a lax international financial system enables massive graft in developing countries.
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January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1
The Rise of Kleptocracy: Does China Fit the Model?
China has seen a staggering number of official corruption cases in recent years. But does it merit the label of kleptocracy?
January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1
Exchange: How to Tell Nativists from Populists
Contra Ben Margulies, one can clearly mark the boundaries that separate antidemocrats from democrats (nativists included), and nativists from populists.
July 2017, Volume 28, Issue 3
India’s Democracy at 70: The Impact of Instant Universal Suffrage
Read the full essay here. When the authors of India’s Constitution took the extraordinarily bold step of establishing universal suffrage, thus giving the right to vote to all adult citizens, India became the world’s first large democracy to adopt universal adult suffrage from its very inception. We call India’s move “instant universal suffrage,” and distinguish…
July 2017, Volume 28, Issue 3
The Rise of Referendums: Elite Strategy or Populist Weapon?
Political elites once held referendums to fend off challenges to European integration. More recently, Euroskeptic parties have employed referendums to batter down the walls of elite consensus. But the spread of referendums threatens to undermine the legitimacy of representative democracy.
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
Ghana: The Ebbing Power of Incumbency
Despite pre-election fears, the victory of the opposition NPP over the ruling NDC in Ghana’s December 2016 elections became the prologue to a peaceful transfer of power. This outcome suggests that the advantage of incumbency in African elections may be on the wane.
January 2017, Volume 28, Issue 1
Britain After Brexit: A Transformed Political Landscape
The British party system is being fundamentally reshaped by the consequences of the British decision to leave the EU, which also threatens to reduce Britain’s influence on the rest of the world.
January 2017, Volume 28, Issue 1
Tunisia’s Islamists and the “Turkish Model”
Ennahda has long felt an especially strong kinship with Turkey’s AKP, which has seen as representing a combination of piety, prosperity, and democratic credibility. How might their relationship be affected by the AKP's more recent authoritarian turn?
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
Shadows in the Swiss Paradise
Long a standout example of consensus-based politics, prosperous Switzerland has now become a mixed democracy with a good deal of polarization and uncertain prospects.
January 2016, Volume 27, Issue 1
What’s Wrong with East-Central Europe? Liberalism’s Failure to Deliver
Is democracy in East-Central Europe suffering because of a lack of liberal zeal among elites, as Dawson and Hanley contend, or is it because liberal policies have failed to deliver on their promises?
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Euroskepticism Arrives: The Missing Debate
Disagreements over how much power should reside in Brussels must be allowed to become a normal aspect of debates about European affairs.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Is Small Really Beautiful? The Microstate Mistake
Tiny countries have come in for praise as miniature models of democracy, but closer examination tells a mainly more somber tale.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Shifting Tides in South Asia: India and Its Neighbors
Home to about a quarter of the world’s people, South Asia presents a murky and not very encouraging picture when it comes to democracy.
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
Albania: From Bunkers to Ballots
After a half-century of brutal communist rule and two decades of troubled postcommunist life, this small Balkan state surprised many by achieving a successful turnover of power by means of the ballot.
April 2013, Volume 24, Issue 2
Lessons from Latin America: Democratic Breakdown and Survival
Why do democracies survive or fail? An empirical study of Latin America finds that the fate of democracies depends largely on the regional political context, as well as the level of actors’ commitment to democracy and policy moderation.
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
European Disintegration? The Sources of Extremism
The EU is experiencing a somewhat paradoxical phenomenon: On the one hand, it has been a tremendously successful club, promoting democracy and open societies within its borders and in its neighborhoods. On the other hand, the language of national rivalry and of class struggle is re-entering public discourse, especially within the eurozone.
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
European Disintegration? A Way Forward
The present crisis of the Euro is a near perfect example of how causal complexity, unanticipated consequences, and decisional uncertainty can have a significant and cumulative impact on regional integration. In theory, this should be the crisis that will drive the EU from economic to political integration. In practice, the outcome—at least, so far—has been…
July 2012, Volume 23, Issue 3
Hungary’s Illiberal Turn: Can Outsiders Help?
Can outside actors help Hungarians to loosen Fidesz’s centralized grip on all of their country’s governing institutions?
April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2
Southeast Asia: Thailand’s Uneasy Passage
In 2011, Thais reelected a party backed by deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Why is his brand of populism so irrepressible, and what can be done to reconcile the voting power of Thailand’s rural lower classes with the establishment dug in around the Thai monarchy?
April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2
Southeast Asia: Minding the Gap Between Democracy and Governance
Do democracy and good governance necessarily go hand-in-hand? In most Southeast Asian countries, a gap exists between the two. How should we understand good governance in an authoritarian context? And what does poor governance mean for the legitimacy of democracy?