October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Angola, Cambodia, Grenada, Hong Kong, Macedonia, Mongolia, and Zimbabwe.
2729 Results
why is trump a zionist after being elected
October 2018, Volume 29, Issue 4
Democracy’s “Near Misses”
What factors help a democracy to survive a crisis? A study of cases in which democracy suffered a steep decline, yet ultimately recovered and endured, offers new insights. In moments of crisis, unelected and nonmajoritarian actors can play a pivotal role.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
Documents on Democracy
A Ukrainian human-rights lawyer on moral responsibility during war; Nilofar Shidmehr’s poem “Say Her Name: Mahsa Jina Amini”; a Cuban prodemocracy activist vows to never give up; Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Belarus’s sham election; a Zimbabwean journalist turns himself in to police; the frontlines of the protests in Georgia; and an open letter to Xi Jinping.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
How Viktor Orbán Wins
The case of Hungary shows how autocrats can rig elections legally, using legislative majorities to change the law and neutralize the opposition at every turn, no matter what strategy they adopt.
October 2013, Volume 24, Issue 4
Separated at Birth?
A review of The Promise of Power: The Origins of Democracy in India and Autocracy in Pakistan by Maya Tudor.
January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1
The Rise of Kleptocracy: Laundering Cash, Whitewashing Reputations
To safeguard their ill-gotten gains, kleptocrats rely on a web of transnational relationships and the complicity of Western fixers.
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a joint statement to the Kyrgyz nation issued by the presidents of Georgia and Ukraine; the Madrid Agenda; a letter issued by five hundred Chinese human rights and democracy activists; the third UN Development Programme Arab Human Development Report; a secret audio audio message recorded by Thich Quang Do, deputy leader of the…
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
Resisting the Authoritarian Temptation
Democracy’s unique, flexible, and substantial resources make it better than authoritarianism at confronting climate change.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
China in Xi’s “New Era”: The Return to Personalistic Rule
After Mao, Deng Xiaoping tried to institutionalize collective leadership, but this did not stop Xi Jinping from grasping all the levers of power.
Why Ukraine’s Millions of Displaced People Will Define Its Future
Most are Russian speakers from the east, and once harbored sympathies for Moscow. If the country embraces them, they could form the bedrock of a free and open Ukrainian society. | By Danilo Mandić
April 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2
The “Power-Sharing” Trap
A review of Power Politics in Zimbabwe by Michael Bratton.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
The Future of Platform Power: Solving for a Moving Target
Despite the challenges, middleware offers a legally and politically feasible answer to platforms’ influence over speech.
December’s Most-Read Essays
As 2024 draws to a close, democracy faces urgent threats: increasing aggression from Russia and China, rapidly advancing AI, heightened polarization, and populist leaders in India and elsewhere bending democracy to their will. Here are the Journal of Democracy’s ten most-read essays over the past month.
Putin’s Big Gamble
The Kremlin’s order to call up Russians to fight in Ukraine risks massive protests. It’s the riskiest decision of Putin’s rule, and it could lead to his undoing. | By Robert Person
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; a speech by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi; a speech by Félix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); a statement by Reverend Chu Yiu-ming; and a speech by Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Will Syria Be Free?
Syria now has another chance at democracy. In our April issue, leading scholars of Syria reflect on why there is reason to hope Syria will be free, despite the difficult road ahead.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilve’s speech in Oslo, Norway; Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech; Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán's shocking speech in favor of an “illiberal” state; an open letter by senior members of the Communist Party of Vietnam calling for an end to communism; the inaugural address of Colombian…
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
The Opening in Burma: The Need for a Political Pact
The hardest work of the transition—negotiating political pacts—has not yet begun. Burma’s democrats must help to forge a system of mutual security that can allow democratization to proceed.