January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Debating Electoral Systems: Getting Elections Wrong
Evidence from waves of democratization shows proportional election systems, however imperfect, to be the better option in most contexts.
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October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Nigeria Votes: More Openness, More Conflict
Nigeria’s 2011 presidential election offered its citizens the most competitive and transparent contest in decades, but also the bloodiest.
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
Morocco’s Elections: A Dynamic Civil Society
Since the 1990s, Moroccan civil society groups have been proliferating, and they are increasingly influential in addressing society-wide matters including the rights of women, ethnic minorities, and the poor.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Kenya: Third Time Lucky?
After falling short in 1992 and 1997, Kenya’s large but fractious opposition coalition swept to victory at the polls in 2002. Transition has arrived, but can democratic transformation follow?
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
Kenya’s New Constitution
Wracked by postelection violence in 2007 and 2008, Kenya embarked upon a course of constitutional change that culminated in an August 2010 referendum. How was the new basic law framed and passed, and what will it mean for democracy in this key East African country?
April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2
The Languages of the Arab Revolutions
The upheavals that have been shaking the Arab-Muslim world are revolutions in discourse as well as in the streets. Arabs are using not only traditional and religious vocabularies, but also a new set of expressions that are modern and represent popular aspirations.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
An Illiberal India?
The country’s hold on electoral democracy is firm, but its claim still to be a liberal democracy is increasingly dubious.
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
The Quality of Democracy: Freedom as the Foundation
Freedom has always been integral to democracy. How to guard liberty is a question every democratic regime must answer.
About the Journal of Democracy
The Journal of Democracy is the world’s leading publication on the theory and practice of democracy. Since its first appearance in 1990, it has engaged both activists and intellectuals in critical discussions of the problems of and prospects for democracy around the world. Today, the Journal is at the center of debate on the major…
April 2013, Volume 24, Issue 2
Southeast Asia: Sources of Regime Support
Data from the latest wave of the Asian Barometer Survey show commonalities and variations in the sources of regime support in Southeast Asian countries. Most regimes—democracies and nondemocracies alike—draw political legitimacy from perceptions of effective and upright governance.
July 2010, Volume 21, Issue 3
Political Attitudes in the Muslim World
A new look at the World Values Survey data reveals how the Muslim world’s religious context affects individual Muslims’ attitudes toward democracy.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
Ethiopia’s Extended Transition
In May, Ethiopia held its first genuinely competitive elections. The strong showing of opposition parties gives hope for a more democratic future.
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
Promoting Transparency in Angola
Natural-resource wealth has been at the root of Angola's corruption and authoritarianism. By giving leverage to those pushing for reform, however, it has also become a key factor in teh struggle for accountability.
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
30 Years After Tiananmen: Hong Kong Remembers
It was the impact of Tiananmen that made the democracy movement in Hong Kong a mass phenomenon. Today, the democratic cause in Hong Kong remains linked to the democratic cause in China as a whole.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
After the Arab Spring: People Still Want Democracy
Data from the Arab Barometer suggest that Arabs have not rejected democracy. In fact, they still by and large believe in it and want it.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Authoritarian Successor Parties
Why do significant numbers of people, after gaining the right to choose their leaders via free and fair elections, vote for political parties with deep roots in dictatorship, and how do such parties affect the consolidation of democracy?
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
Neoliberalism and the Third Wave
Democracy across the world is being undermined by the very forces that once made it possible: the liberal economic order and political competition. The global concentration of wealth has made democratic governance less effective and stripped the people of their power.
April 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2
The Anti-American Century?
The twentieth century has been called "the American century," but it appears that the twenty-first may be dominated by anti-Americanism, an all-purpose ideology that poses a serious obstacle to the progress of democracy.