January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Facing Up to the Democratic Recession
Democracy has been in a global recession for most of the last decade, and committed and resourceful engagement by the established democracies is necessary to reverse this trend.
2929 Results
strategies in selecting and organizing information
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
Getting to Arab Democracy: Lebanon Springs Forward
Taking advantage of the withdrawal of Syrian troops, Lebanese voters capped the "Beirut Spring" by electing a new majority in parliament.
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Explaining Eastern Europe: “Soft Decisionism” in Bulgaria
Bulgaria continues to enjoy free and fair elections, but over the last decade its politics has come to be dominated by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who practices a brand of discretionary rule that puts his own priorities above any commitment to legal or constitutional norms.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
The Danger of Deconsolidation: How Much Should We Worry?
The evidence presented by Foa and Mounk is troubling, but it does not mean that democracy is now in long-term decline.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Indonesia’s 2014 Elections: Parliament and Patronage
Indonesia’s 2014 legislative elections went smoothly. Yet the “money politics” that featured so heavily in these contests suggests a grave need to reform the country’s electoral system.
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
Latin America’s Gay-Rights Revolution
Even before Argentina’s landmark gay-marriage law was passed in July 2010, a gay-rights revolution was well underway across Latin America. But do gay rights by law equal acceptance of gays in practice?
January 2010, Volume 21, Issue 1
Twenty Years of Postcommunism: Georgia’s Soviet Legacy
The central problems now blocking democracy in Georgia and other parts of the former USSR are: 1) the use of power in order to gain wealth; 2) the absence of the rule of law; and 3) the passivity of citizens.
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy (II): Aiding Latin America’s Poor
Latin American social policy has at times worked backwards, widening rather than narrowing economic and social inequalities. But new conditional cash-transfer programs seem to be producing positive outcomes.
April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
Electoral Systems Today: The Politics of Reform in Japan and Taiwan
For decades, Japan and Taiwan elected their legislatures using the single nontransferable vote. Recently, however, both countries adopted new electoral systems. What explains this trend?
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Latin America’s Lost Illusions: Brazil’s New Direction
The recent election of political outsider Lula da Silva as president is a sign of hope for the future of democracy in Brazil.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Aspirations and Realities in Africa: Five Reflections
Three decades after sub-Saharan Africa joined the “third wave,” democracy’s ability to endure has been established in many countries, but its quality remains a grave concern.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Aspirations and Realities in Africa: Nigeria’s Emerging Two-Party System?
Election officials made strides toward secure voter identification, and a two-party system appears to be emerging, but the 2019 elections revealed continuing problems with vote-buying and violence.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
China in Xi’s “New Era”: Singapore and Goliath?
Despite its tiny size, Singapore has shown that a firm stance can help to resist Chinese encroachment.
July 2017, Volume 28, Issue 3
Tanzania: Shrinking Space and Opposition Protest
Since Tanzania’s 2015 elections, rising repression and opposition protest have displaced an older dynamic of comparatively restrained and unchallenged dominance by the ruling party.
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
The 2016 U.S. Election: The Nomination Game
Since the 1970s, the U.S. presidential-nomination system has become more democratic, making primary elections crucial, reducing the influence of political parties, and making it easier for outsiders to win.
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
The Gambia’s Electoral Earthquake
This small West African country voted a longtime dictator out of the presidency. This victory for democracy was seemingly snatched away by his refusal to leave power—yet a breathtaking reversal lay in store.
January 2017, Volume 28, Issue 1
The Secret Supports of Mongolian Democracy
This sparsely populated, landlocked country sandwiched between much larger authoritarian neighbors has nonetheless managed to maintain a fairly robust democracy. The secret lies in its energetic civil society.
April 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2
Turkey’s Two Elections: The AKP Comes Back
In power since 2002, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan seemed as if it might be losing its hold when Turkish voters went to the polls in June 2015. Yet that “hung election” gave way to another contest in November, and the AKP came roaring back.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Algeria versus the Arab Spring
Not only did the Algerian regime survive the “Arab Spring,” it hardly deviated from its normal methods of authoritarian governance—patronage, pseudodemocratization, and effective use of the security apparatus.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Comparing the Arab Revolts: The Global Context
Although the Arab revolts have a long way to go before they can be counted as gains for democracy, they do underline what is perhaps democracy’s greatest source of strength worldwide—its superior legitimacy.