The Man Who Dared to Change the World
Mikhail Gorbachev risked everything. Neither Russia nor the West could live up to his vision. | By Lilia Shevtsova
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How Autocrats Use Sharp Power to Wage War on Democracy
Most of the world’s democracies remain extremely vulnerable to sharp-power threats. The following Journal of Democracy essays explore how authoritarians weaponize universities, technologies, media, entertainment, and culture to attempt to crack democracy’s foundations.
How to Fight Polarization
The world increasingly appears afflicted by “us-them” divides that breed anger, resentment, and violence. But across the globe small local groups are mounting a thoughtful resistance against polarization and hate.
Why TikTok Is a Threat to Democracy
The popular Chinese-owned app is helping Beijing collect people’s data everywhere, and giving it control over powerful tools that can shape their worldview. | Aynne Kokas
Can Mexico’s Next President Control the Military?
The Mexican military has a larger role governing the country than at any time in the past eighty years. The following Journal of Democracy essays uncover and analyze the democratic and antidemocratic forces at work within Mexico’s institutions.
Hope and Fear in Syria
The brutal regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad fell in a week. Syrians have been preparing for this moment for years.
Kenya’s Shaky Handshake Deals
The country has a long history of power-sharing deals that are sealed with a handshake. The truth is that this type of political bargaining typically does more harm than good.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
The Evolution of Political Order
A review of Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy by Francis Fukuyama.
Democracy Without Liberalism?
We have long assumed democracy and liberalism went hand in hand. But in truth there have always been tensions between them, and the rise of illiberal democracy cannot be ignored.
April 2020, Volume 31, Issue 2
The Squeeze on African Media Freedom
Sub-Saharan African governments are clamping down on media freedom. More surprising is how many of their citizens appear to support this attack on the press.
January 2019, Volume 30, Issue 1
The Road to Digital Unfreedom: President Xi’s Surveillance State
Chinese authorities are wielding facial-recognition software, big-data analytics, and other digital technologies to control China’s citizens by monitoring and assessing their activities, both online and off.
The Perils of Kenya’s New Power-Sharing Deal
The Journal of Democracy essays below, free for a limited time, chart the trials and triumphs of Kenya’s democracy over the last two decades — plus key essays on the theory and practice of political power sharing.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Elections Without Democracy: Thinking About Hybrid Regimes
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 2023, Volume 34, Issue 2
Iraq’s Struggle for Democracy
Iraq today is more of a democracy than most people think, but still less of a democracy than it could be. While its future is uncertain, one thing is not: It will be determined by Iraqis.
New JoD Available Now
Essays on Eygpt and Syria in latest issue of the Journal of Democracy, as well as Francis Fukuyama and Marc F. Plattner on governance and democracy & essays on the “Arab Spring,” Paraguay, Malaysia, & more.
October 15, 2013
October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
Bolivia’s Constitutional Breakdown
Bolivia now finds itself locked in a stalemate between forces bent on “refounding” the country and an eastern region insisting on greater autonomy.
The Kremlin Emboldened: Paradoxes of Decline
The Russian system of personalized power is growing ever more dependent on the same strategies that proved useless in sustaining the USSR. While the system still has the potential to limp along, its survival tactics render the it progressively more dysfunctional. Among the circumstances weighing against the system’s survival are the unintended yet logical consequences…