April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
A Peaceful Turnover in Ghana
With longtime ruler Jerry Rawlings obeying constitutional term limits, the opposition won a narrow electoral victory, bringing Ghana its first peaceful transfer of power since independence.
2931 Results
strategies in selecting and organizing information
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
Democracy as a Starting Point
Democracy by itself does not put an end to injustice or inequality, but it establishes the most favorable conditions for making progress in the struggle to achieve a just society.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Mexico’s Victory: The Democratic Revelation
Vicente Fox’s victory in Mexico’s July 2000 presidential election revealed the fundamental changes that had been taking place under the veil of governmental continuity.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Is Iran Democratizing? Observations on Election Day
In hotly contested parliamentary elections, candidates supportive of President Khatami’s reforms won an overwhelming victory.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Shifting Tides in South Asia: Renewed Hope in Pakistan?
Long prone to coups, Pakistan now for the first time has seen a freely elected government duly serve out its full term and peacefully hand the reins of power to another.
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
China Since Tiananmen: A New Rights Consciousness?
Read the full essay here. Despite the suppression of the Tiananmen Uprising of 1989, popular protest in China has by all accounts escalated steadily over the ensuing two decades. These protests have spread to virtually every sector of Chinese society, prompting more than a few observers to proclaim the emergence of a “rising rights consciousness”…
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Challenge and Change in East Asia: Is Democracy the Only Game in Town?
In three of the six democracies surveyed by the East Asia Barometer, a majority of respondents prefer democracy to its alternatives. In the other three, however, a lingering nostalgia for authoritarianism stands in the way of democratic consolidation.
October 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4
Southeast Asia’s Troubling Elections: Is There a Silver Lining?
A trio of national ballotings in 2019 tell a tale of waxing authoritarianism in Southeast Asia, but things could have turned out worse.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
World Religions and Democracy: Judaism and Political Life
Today, Jews the world over are closely and correctly associated with liberal democracy. What are the wellsprings of Jewish tradition and commitment that feed this association?
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
Democratization by Elections? A Mixed Record
Evidence suggests that under some circumstances repeated elections, even if flawed, can lead to democratization.
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
Iran in Ferment: The Green Wave
Iran’s massive protest movement against June’s electoral coup is now moving into a new phase. What are its prospects?
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
Islamist Parties and Democracy: Going Back to the Origins
The rise of Islamist parties poses new challenges to efforts to understand the relationship between Islam and democracy. A diverse group of authors investigates this new phenomenon and its implications for the future of democracy in the Middle East.
October 2023, Volume 34, Issue 4
How Erdoğan Rules Through Crisis
Turkey’s economic and political crises have only worsened, but the autocratic president remains in power. His secret? He uses the levers of the state to shield his supporters from harm, while punishing the rest.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
Kenya’s Electoral Misfire
Sophisticated technology could not keep Kenya’s August 2017 presidential election from leading to renewed ethnic tensions and a painful standoff from which the country appears only now to be emerging. What went wrong?
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
The Legacies of 1989: The Moving Ruins
Communism is gone, but while it was alive and in power it bred profound moral pathologies that still haunt the region.
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
Taming Extremist Parties: Lessons from Europe
The history of twentieth-century European communist parties shows that extremists can be moderated by robust democratic institutions. Without them, however, the inclusion of extremist parties may undermine democracy.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Russian Democracy in Eclipse: What the Elections Tell Us
President Vladimir Putin's lopsided election victory was assisted by an unlevel electoral playing field, but elections still matter in Russia and they will make more difficult the consolidation of authoritarianism.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
The Long Decline of South Africa’s ANC
After thirty years of ANC dominance, the 2024 elections have ushered in multiparty politics in South Africa. Will the party’s centrist shift be enough to stop its descent, or is it destined to fracture further?
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
Exploring “Non-Western Democracy”
Often called for but seldom defined with any precision, “non-Western democracy” could end up giving cover to authoritarianism, but also could allow potentially useful democratic innovations to be tried and tested.