“I Have No Doubts That Navalny Was Killed on Putin’s Orders.”
Alexei Navalny was one of the bravest and most influential political leaders of our time. His assassination should be a wake-up call for Western democracies.
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Drowning Democracy
Afghanistan taught us that a firehose of unaccountable aid can destroy a country’s democratic future. In Ukraine, we are making the same mistake all over again. | By Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Nataliia Shapoval
Putin’s Formula for Ruling Russia Is Failing
The Russian autocrat’s system of control has rested on pillars that are beginning to crumble.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The Maidan and Beyond: Civil Society and Democratization
Despite the spirit of participation that characterized the Maidan, organized civil society groups were not a key factor.
NATO at 75: Why It’s More Than a Military Alliance
For 75 years, NATO has played a crucial role in defending democracy across the West. The following Journal of Democracy essays track NATO’s role in supporting democracy’s fight against autocracy.
Drowning Democracy
Afghanistan taught us that a firehose of unaccountable aid can destroy a country’s democratic future. In Ukraine, we are making the same mistake all over again.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The Maidan and Beyond: The House That Yanukovych Built
The events surrounding the EuroMaidan cannot be understood apart from the preceding five years of increasingly corrupt and authoritarian rule.
October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Burma’s National Unity Government statement on execution of four prodemocracy activists by military junta; UN Human Rights Commission report on the treatment of Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region; international NGO statement on closure of Uganda’s leading LGBTQ rights advocacy organization; the Prague Manifesto for a Free Ukraine; Zov, a Russian soldier’s memoir.
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Ukraine’s Orange Revolution: The Opposition’s Road to Success
Ukraine's opposition had been trying to oust President Leonid Kuchma's semi-authoritarian regime since its alleged involvement in the murder of journalist Georgi Gongadze in 2000. What brought success in 2004?
July 2023, Volume 34, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Activist Xu Zhiyong on the Imperative for a Democratic China; Historian Timothy Snyder on “Russophobia”; Fadzayi Mahere on why Zimbabwe is a tragedy; a call for the release of the speaker of Tunisia’s parliament, Rached Ghannouchi; a Burmese student recounts her experience as a strike leader following the 2021 military coup.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Journalist Lian Qingchuan’s reflections on the Shanghai lockdown; Evgenia Kara-Murza’s testimony before the UN Human Rights Council; independent expert assessment of Russian violations of the international Genocide Convention; Moldovan president Maia Sandu’s commencement address; Larry Diamond’s acceptance speech from the 2022 Democracy Service Medal award ceremony; U.S. president Ronald Reagan’s Westminster Address.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The Maidan and Beyond
Read the full essay here. The Editors’ introduction to “The Maidan and Beyond.”
April 2024, Volume 35, Issue 2
The Perils of Propaganda
A review of How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler, by Peter Pomerantsev.
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
The Orange Revolution and Beyond
Ukraine gained independence in 1991, but its people gained their freedom only in 2004 with the Orange Revolution—an uprising of the human spirit in which Ukrainians joined together to gain a voice in their future.
Must-Read Essays This March
Don’t miss these must-read essays from the Journal of Democracy, free for a limited time, on the Russia-Ukraine war, artificial intelligence, illiberalism, democracy’s ability to deliver, and more.
The Top 10 Journal of Democracy Essays of 2023
Our most-read essays of 2023 covered the state of India’s democracy, Russia’s war on Ukraine, the protests in Iran, and more.
Putin’s Formula for Ruling Russia Is Failing
The Russian autocrat’s system of control has rested on pillars that are beginning to crumble.
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
A Russian Liberal’s Lament
A review of Lonely Power: Why Russia Has Failed to Become the West and the West Is Weary of Russia by Lilia Shevtsova.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
The Rise of an “Outsider” President
A comic actor’s triumph in Ukraine’s free and competitive 2019 presidential race reflects distrust of establishment elites and a deep desire for change.