3205 Results
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
Spain’s system of Autonomous Communities had functioned fairly smoothly for decades following the country’s democratic transition, but events in Catalonia are putting it under unprecedented strain.
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
Two of the Arab world’s more liberal regimes, the kingdoms of Jordan and Morocco, are sometimes said to be evolving toward democracy. Is this true, and what are the longer-term prospects for these two monarchies?
January 2017, Volume 28, Issue 1
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.
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
Post-1945 Western Europe benefited greatly from center-left parties offering real solutions to real problems. Where has that left gone?
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
Improving governance in the EU’s new member states remains a huge challenge for the European project. Why has the EU succeeded in promoting democracy among its postcommunist members but failed in promoting good governance?
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
The “Arab Spring” has been very hard on autocratic presidents but so far has left the Arab world’s monarchies intact. How and why have Arab royals been able to resist the tide of protest?
April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2
Does recourse to the ballot box spur violence and instability in the world’s poorest countries? Despite the worries of modernization theorists such as Paul Collier, the evidence indicates that, over time, elections are not associated with higher levels of political violence.
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
In late 2010, not long before seismic political change was to erupt across the Middle East, Jordan held parliamentary elections. Officials were eager to present these as a fresh start, but a closer look tells a different tale.
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
Voters in democratic countries often favor political candidates whose relatives were in office before them. When citizens can choose anyone, why in so many of the world’s democracies do they opt for political dynasties?
July 2007, Volume 18, Issue 3
For more than two decades, President Yoweri Museveni has been building an authoritarian regime that answers closely to his personal will.
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
Over the past decade, a series of "electoral revolutions" has taken place from Slovakia to Kyrgyzstan. Why has this path to democratization been especially common in the postcommunist region?
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
There is a widespread desire for democracy among the Iraqi public, but when it comes to the roles of religion, ethnicity, and gender equality in Iraq's new democracy, attitudes are more varied.
Winter 1990, Volume 1, Issue 1
This past spring the world looked on in wonder as millions filled the streets of Beijing and 80 other Chinese cities, defying the Communist regime and demanding democracy.
April 2023, Volume 34, Issue 2
A review of Beijing’s Global Media Offensive: China’s Uneven Campaign to Influence Asia and the World by Joshua Kurlantzick.
January 2021, Volume 32, Issue 1
A review of Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World, by Tom Burgis.
April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
A tribute in remembrance of the life of Seymour Martin Lipset (1922–2006).
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
The country’s hold on electoral democracy is firm, but its claim still to be a liberal democracy is increasingly dubious.
July 2017, Volume 28, Issue 3
Read the full essay here. Seven decades after gaining its independence from the British Empire, India retains all the hallmarks of a functioning democracy: It holds reasonably free and fair elections, has a mostly independent judiciary plus a largely free press, and enjoys a robust and growing civil society. Yet thanks to India’s colonial inheritance…
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Social activist Anna Hazare’s hunger strike has helped to turn the world’s attention to India’s rampant corruption.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Arabs express a clear preference for democracy, which they define in ways similar to citizens elsewhere in the world. But their authoritarian regimes are not listening.
