July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
Nicaragua Votes: The Elections of 2001
The November elections were peaceful and competitive. For the third straight time, voters chose a conservative who embraced democratic liberties.
2580 Results
July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
The November elections were peaceful and competitive. For the third straight time, voters chose a conservative who embraced democratic liberties.
July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
Talk about the Middle East and those who study it has become understandably heated. But we can learn more through a calm assessment of the achievements and weaknesses of this field.
July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
Is the field of Middle East studies as badly flawed as some critics charge? A fair-minded look at the last 10 or 15 years of research suggests otherwise.
July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
Middle Eastern autocracies rely ever more on repression of both their Islamist and secular critics, and therefore increasingly fear that any opening will be uncontrollable. Is there a way out?
July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
While many experts recommend postponing democratization pending the rise of a middle class, a directly political strategy may well be better.
July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
Often recommended as a means of ending intractable civil wars, power-sharing may in fact be least likely to work when it is most needed.
July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
This region’s five republics have just lived through a remarkable first decade of independence that raises questions about “preconditions”-based theories of democratization.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Many countries have adopted the form of democracy with little of its substance. This makes the task of classifying regimes more difficult, but also more important.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
A new research project suggests that federalism enhances the ability of regimes to accommodate territorially based minorities. Federal systems, except when imposed by an outside power, significantly help to preserve the peace.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
The effects of electoral systems and of federalism are usually examined separately, but a review of the leading federations shows that it is essential to consider the interaction between the two in designing democratic institutions.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Italy has long mixed great local and regional diversity with a unitary approach to governance. In October 2001, however, Italian voters approved a series of changes to their country’s Constitution that could mark a decisive turn toward federalism.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Last year, Bulgarians elected their newly returned former king as prime minister and then, in a shocking upset, ousted their incumbent president. What do these results portend for the future of Bulgarian democracy?
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Political scientists have long theorized that the use of “preferential” election systems can help promote successful conflict management in divided societies. As it turns out, evidence from five real-world cases supports this conclusion.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
Over the last two decades, India has gone through a series of peaceful revolutions-in society, in economic life, and in the political system-that have strengthened Indian democracy and given it a basis on which to thrive in decades to come.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
Recent parliamentary elections showed the continuing strengths and weaknesses of Bangladeshi democracy. Although the country does have strong political parties and a decade of democratic elections, the intense antipathy between government and opposition will continue to cause problems well into the future.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
Irresponsible leadership and ill-designed institutions have made this island republic prey to a bitter and violent ethnic conflict that is threatening to undermine democracy itself.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
The story of this small former Yugoslav republic offers an example of how—if circumstances are right—it may be possible for a country to reform its way out of communism and into parliamentary democracy and a market economy.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
Recent studies suggest that civil society in the postcommunist countries is significantly weaker than in other types of democracies, old or new. Can this legacy of communism be overcome? If not, what are the implications for democracy?
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
A review of Afghanistan’s Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban by Larry P. Goodson; and Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, by Ahmed Rashid.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Hong Kong has experienced a smooth transition from British to Chinese rule, but signs of political, economic, and social malaise mean that further steps toward fuller democracy are needed.