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The Journal of Democracy has covered the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement since the protests first erupted. Following is a selection of essays on the protests in Iran and the key role women play in securing democracy and freedom across the globe.

A democratic recession has been sweeping the globe for more than two decades, and it’s picking up steam. What explains this alarming decline? In the April issue, leading scholars debate the root causes of democratic backsliding, and what can be done to stop it.

On Tuesday, Georgia’s Parliament passed a controversial new law that would brand NGOs and media organizations receiving foreign funding as “foreign agents.” Countries across the globe are following the Russian model and painting liberal-democratic values as malign foreign interference. Read about the strategies autocrats are devising to repress civil society and stifle dissent.

After years of increasingly authoritarian rule, Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu Hassan was hailed as a democratic reformer. But as Dan Paget and Aikande Clement Kwayu write in the July issue of the JoD, the president is more performer than reformer, relying on theatrics to delay real reform while sharpening her tools of repression.

There’s a fine line between genuine cybersecurity and digital authoritarianism. Many autocrats use the pretext of digital order to surveil, silence, and suppress their citizens. State cyber repression creates a climate of fear around social media and the internet, shrinking one of the last remaining spaces for free speech.

Steadfast, nonviolent movements are often the most effective way to counter an authoritarian. These essays explain how to start, sharpen, and sustain a movement.

Authoritarians weaponize LGBT+ rights to undermine pluralism and cement their rule. Can democracy still protect and advance these rights? Read about how LGBT+ rights have been both expanded and resisted around the world, and offer ideas for how democracies can defend them.

Dictators seem all-powerful—until they’re not. Those brave enough to challenge autocrats have scored some impressive victories in recent months. But how did they do it? And how could other opposition movements succeed where they once failed?

Viktor Orbán, a proud advocate for “illiberal democracy,” has become a favorite of the far-right by using the tools of democracy against democracy. His secret? Restructuring Hungary’s political playing field in favor of his ruling party, effectively locking in his power with the force of law.