April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
Electoral Systems Today: Iraq’s Year of Voting Dangerously
Iraq’s three elections in 2005 highlighted the role—but also the limits—of electoral-system design in managing potentially polarizing divisions.
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April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
Electoral Systems Today: The Curious Case of Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s electoral system is both unusual and unsuited to the country’s political circumstances. How was it chosen and what are its effects on the country’s politics?
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 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2
Christianity and Democracy: The Global Picture
That modern democracy first arose with the ambit of Western Christianity is far from an accident. Today, the major Christain communions largely support democracy, even while necessarily retaining the right to criticize democratic decisions in the name fo religious truth claims.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Slovakia’s Second Transition
Slovakia’s 2002 elections indicate the waning of nationalist authoritarianism and augur well for the consolidation of democracy.
July 2025, Volume 36, Issue 3
Can Capitalism Save Democracy?
Capitalism is often blamed for democracy’s ills. But much of the blame is misplaced. It is not business capture of the state but rather state capture of business that poses the greatest danger to democracy.
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
Latin America: A Surge to the Center
The left-right ideological divide has begun to narrow in Latin America as citizens and leaders increasingly choose a pragmatic approach to politics and embrace the rules of the democratic game.
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
Latin America: A Setback for Chávez
Hugo Chávez has been running a bounded competitive-authoritarian regime for some time, but its ability to compete is now slipping. Will this tend to make it less authoritarian—or even more so?
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.
January 1997, Volume 8, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Romanian presidential candidate Emil Constantinescu’s remarks; victory statement by Nicaraguan presidential candidate Arnoldo Alemán.
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.
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…
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
Who Decides What Is Democratic?
The “crisis” of democracy is a crisis of representation. New parties, some of which are populist in troublingly illiberal ways, are arising from this moment. The danger that they pose is not that they are antidemocratic, but that they are antiliberal.
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: the concession speech of former Zambian president Rupiah Banda; the inauguration speech of Zambian president Michael Sata; the “Russia Development Index 2010–2011” report.
July 2020, Volume 31, Issue 3
Social Media Disruption: Messaging Mistrust in Latin America
In Latin America, greater exposure to social media—and the digital misinformation that comes with it—seems to be bolstering prodemocratic attitudes even as it fuels public distrust in democratic institutions.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
The OAS in Peru: Room for Improvement
Although the OAS helped, sudden public revelations of corruption in Peru were more important.
January 1995, Volume 6, Issue 1
Democracy’s Future: More Liberal, Preliberal, or Postliberal?
Read the full essay here.
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a statement issued by Iranian opposition candidate Mir Hosein Musavi; the Organization of American States’ resolution suspending Honduras from the organization; UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon’s message to the fifth ministerial conference of the Community of Democracies; a speech given newly re-elected Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh.
How Dictators Use Financial Repression Against Their Opponents
Economic freedom is one of a tyrant’s first targets. My family and I have experienced this firsthand. But tools like Bitcoin offer a lifeline for activists fighting repressive states.