January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
Examining Mexico’s electoral rules, political institutions, and the ways in which they interact with one another can tell us much about how current difficulties developed and how they might be resolved.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
When Abdullah Ahmad Badawi succeeded Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister in 2003, many expected far-reaching change in Malaysia. So far, however, turnover at the top has not led to significant democratic progress.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
Voters casting ballots are an indispensable element of free government, but who decides which names go on those ballots? Although methods of candidate selection have received surprisingly little study by political scientists, they merit the attention of students of democracy everywhere.
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
Chile's new Socialist president Michelle Bachelet will seek to maintain the country's socioeconomic progress, but her attempt to cure growing alienation from the traditional parties could create a new set of problems.
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
In reelecting President Alvaro Uribe by a landslide, Colombia's voters opted for continuity. But they chose continuity with an administration that has carried out a major series of policy innovations.
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
An unexpected winner emerged in Peru's close-fought presidential election. Alan García's earlier presidential term was calamitous at best, and yet he may now be the harbinger of a brighter future for Peru's democracy.
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
The Belarusian presidential election of March 2006 appeared to be an exercise in meaninglessness, while the protests against manipulation by the Lukashenka regime seemed a study in futility. But appearances can deceive.
July 2006, Volume 17, Issue 3
Authoritarian regimes around the world hold elections and manipulate them every step of the way. How do we understand and work around the challenges these regimes pose to what should be a clean and democratic electoral process?
April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
A wide variety of electoral systems is used around the world, but in recent years the trend has been toward systems based upon greater proportionality.
April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
Iraq’s three elections in 2005 highlighted the role—but also the limits—of electoral-system design in managing potentially polarizing divisions.
April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
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
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 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
The 2005 elections were marked by massive fraud, but the democratic world mostly looked the other way. Azerbaijani society remains receptive to democracy, but the regime clearly has other plans—and will soon have massive oil wealth to fund them.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
Taking advantage of the withdrawal of Syrian troops, Lebanese voters capped the "Beirut Spring" by electing a new majority in parliament.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
The successful completion of yet another general election should dispel any residual doubts about Bulgarian democracy. But the election results made clear that the country now faces a new set of challenges.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
The gains for freedom in the Middle East were the most significant seen since the Freedom House survey began in 1972.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
After a long and bloody civil conflict, Burundi has established a new democratic regime. Does its tenuous but hopeful example hold lessons that might help its troubled neighbors?
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
Burundi's leaders are learning to embrace a culture of discussion and consensus that offers a way out of the abyss of civil war.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
Data from Africa show that repeated elections, regardless of their relative freeness or fairness,appear to have a positive impact on the growth of civil liberties and democratic values.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
The May 2005 presidential election capped a process of conservative reentrenchment, but with a surprising populist twist.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
The June 2005 presidential ballot marks the culmination of the regime’s effort to dominate even the limited powers of the popularly elected offices.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
In the lines of suffering etched on the visage of this courageous dissident may be read the drama of Iran today.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
Given the unaccountable authority of the supreme leader, the Islamic Republic should be classified as a sultanistic regime. In such regimes, democratic change is more likely to come from nonviolent resistance than from internal reform.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
The election results reflect less what voters want than the ideological dynamics that shape the behavior of factions within the regime.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
The large number of nonvoters suggests that the movement for a free, internationally monitored referendum on the Islamic Republic’s constitution could gain widespread support. We must now work to make that so.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
Basic demographic and socioeconomic factors in Iran are favorable to democratization. The mullahs may hope to stave off democratic change by emulating the Chinese model, but this strategy is doomed to fail.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
While Cambodia is often thought of as a “transitional” democracy and as a case where UN intervention succeeded, the truth is quite different.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
In May, Ethiopia held its first genuinely competitive elections. The strong showing of opposition parties gives hope for a more democratic future.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
A review of Beyond Free and Fair: Monitoring Elections and Building Democracy by Eric C. Bjornlund.
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
The years since 2000 have seen a surprising new wave of democratic breakthroughs in postcommunist lands as varied as Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine. Can we identify any factors common to each case?
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
For the Shi'ite majority and its senior religious leader, the January elections played out against the background of a longing for justice that has deep spiritual sources as well as more recent sociopolitical roots.
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
Is the Islamic-oriented party that has ruled since 2002 really the harbinger of 'Muslim democracy,' or is it something more familiar in Turkish politics: a hierarchical group none too closely in touch with society and overly focused on one man?
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Thanks to a disputed presidential election and a narrowly divided parliament, Taiwan's politics remains tense. Yet the worst of the conflicts that gripped the island seem to have eased, and the difficult political events of the last few years may have some beneficial effects after all.
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Recently reelected premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his "Thais Love Thais" party offer a fusion of populist rhetoric with policies that serve the interests of the Thai business class.
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Despite the tsunami tragedy, Indonesians at least can look back on the political events of 2004 with pride. Their country successfully held three major elections and produced a legitimate government. Now the main challenge is to secure regular governmental accountability.
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Juan Linz’s 1990 critique of presidentialism in these pages was based largely on the Latin American experience. In the last few years, however, four new Asian democracies have encountered presidential crises. Does Linz’s work hold the secret to what has been ailing these regimes?
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Ukraine's opposition had been trying to oust President Leonid Kuchma's semi-authoritarian regime since its alleged involvement in the murder of journalist Georgi Gongadze in 2000. What brought success in 2004?
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
Desperate to secure victory for its own candidate in the 2004 presidential election, the incumbent regime undertook an unprecedented campaign of blatant election fraud. But it had underestimated the citizenry that it was trying to deceive.
April 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2
The 2004 elections saw the defeat of the former communists who ruled Romania for most of the period since the fall of communism. Will the country's new, democratic, and pro-European government be able to break with the semi-authoritarian habits of its postcommunist predecessors?
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
By mid-2003, Afghanistan appeared in danger of reverting to “failed-state” status. Happily, the resilience of the Afghans plus some policy changes by the United States and its parners have put things on the right track, though daunting challenges remain.
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
Both the supporters and the foes of President Hugo Chavez went into the August 2004 recall hoping for a complete and final win. While Chavez kept his job and even rides high, Venezuela is still nowhere close to closure.
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
While charges of electronic fraud in the actual voting or vote-counting are unproven, the dubious and even illegal tactics that the Chavez regime used throughout the larger process point to rampant "institutional fraud" that is undermining Venezuelan democracy.
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
The democratic forces had an uphill climb going into the September 2004 legislative elections, but they made unforced errors as well. What were these, and how can the democrats do better next time?
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
To everyone's surprise, the Congress party defeated the incumbent BJP in the April-May 2004 parliamentary elections. What caused this political turnaround, and what will be its effects?
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
Responsiveness may be conceived as a series of linkages intended to ensure that governments respect the preferences of the governed.
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s election as president in her own right capped a campaign that spoke well of Philippine democracy, but yawning gaps in the rule of law obstruct the road to consolidation.
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
Surveys show that Africans’ commitment to democracy fades over time, but also that their support can be refreshed by alternations in power via elections.
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
Slobodan Milošević fell in the fall of 2000 after he tried to pervert national election results. He had tampered with elections before and survived. What made 2000 different, and what are the lessons to be learned from it?
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
As 2004 began, Afghanistan approved a new constitution that represents a key step forward in its political reconstruction. But it is not yet clear whether this new constitution will enable the country to surmount the many challenges that lie ahead.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
President Vladimir Putin's lopsided election victory was assisted by an unlevel electoral playing field, but elections still matter in Russia and they will make more difficult the consolidation of authoritarianism.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Post-Soviet Russia's future may well turn on the interplay of state power with the business interests that now form Russia's best hope for advances in political pluralism.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
The first flush of democratic hopes has faded, as the recent elections have emphasized. But the democratic idea has a foothold, and the presidential machine that swept those elections will not have an easy time retaining its sway.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Russia's liberal-democratic parties have failed. It is time for a new movement that can gain the trust of the Russian people by putting forward a full reform program based on liberal and democratic principles.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Hopes for democratization now rest on the shoulders of the young. Who are they, what do they believe, and what are their political leanings? Survey data offer some clues.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Over the ten years since its first nonracial elections in 1994, South Africa has seen its democratic order become more firmly institutionalized, even as the electoral dominance of the ANC has continued to grow.
April 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2
Events last November confouned expectations set by the failure of democratization in Russia and other ex-Soviet republics, and should prompt new reflections on how fragile openings to democacy may be sustained and widened.
April 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2
East Timor, which emerged from a tragic and bloody past to gain full independence in 2002, offers a factinating case of democratization in a small developing country with a shallow history of democracy.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
The stakes are enormous and the challenges are difficult, but a look at Iraq months after the toppling of Saddam Hussein reveals that, despite all the frustrating setbacks, grounds for cautious optimism remain.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
Despite the threats posed by terrorism, 2003 saw a second consecutive year of significant momentum of freedom, and showed encouraging evidence that political rights and civil liberties can endure despite economic privation.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
For this huge, sprawling nation in the throes of an ambiguous transition, 2004 will be a year replete with unprecedented electoral tests. In the end, leadership and results will probably count for more than rules and institutions, however carefully designed.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
Mexico’s 2003 congressional elections confirmed both the transition to fully competitive politics and the persistence of structural deficiencies associated with a multiparty presidential system.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
A review of Popular Choice and Managed Democracy: The Russian Elections of 1999 and 2000 by Timothy J. Colton and Michael McFaul; Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State by David Satter; and Putin's Russia by Lilia Shevtsova.
October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4
Four years after his bloodless coup, Pervez Musharraf is executing a military “exit strategy” from politics that involves lots in the way of problematic strategy and little in the way of real exit from political power.
October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4
The rules that govern voting will always be of vital importance in any democracy. The beginning of wisdom is to turn from the usual focus on electoral systems in order to reflect on larger goals and the trade-offs among them that may be necessary.
October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4
In the wake of its recent crisis, Argentina can move from survival to stability only if it responds to demands for institutional change in a way that strengthens the country’s institutions over the long term.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Gauging electoral competitiveness relative to economic development reveals not only that Arab countries “underperform” but, strikingly, that non-Arab Muslim-majority countries tend to “overperform.”
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
This troubled corner of Europe has become a test of the ability of outside experts and carefully designed institutions to overcome a legacy of intense ethnocommunal conflict. How are they faring?
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Liberty and self-government are not only good in themselves, but also have powerful and beneficial effects on a nation’s level of economic development and prosperity.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
New data covering most of the 1990s reveal that democracy, even when minimally defined, has a potent independent impact that tends to reduce infant mortality and promote overall social well-being.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Almost a half-century after being forced from their homeland, Tibetans abroad, led by the Dalai Lama, have democratized their institutions in hopes that they may one day form the basis for a free and self-governing Tibet.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
The election cycle concluding in the spring of 2003 was a guarded success. High hurdles to better governance and democratic consolidation remain, but Nigerians can now face them with greater hope.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
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 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
After enduring years of paternalism punctuated by trauma, Turkish voters have pointed their country in a new direction.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
The recent parliamentary victory of the AKP represents a new political course that holds enormous potential for Turkish democracy.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
The recent election of political outsider Lula da Silva as president is a sign of hope for the future of democracy in Brazil.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
What can public-opinion research tell us about the staying power of democracy in the region? Has it passed the point of any possible return to authoritarianism?
January 2003, Volume 14, Issue 1
The “system of separations” is a historic achievement that must be defended even against normatively “purer” understandings of democracy.
January 2003, Volume 14, Issue 1
Holding regular, free elections may not be enough to stop turbulence that threatens both the quality of democracy and the coherence of the state.
October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4
Though it is a burning issue in many countries, the question of money and politics is seldom studied on a worldwide scale.
October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4
Realizing that power would slip from his grasp if he allowed an honest presidential election in 2002, longtime strongman Robert Mugabe resorted to antidemocratic tactics that set a new low in cruelty and dishonesty.
October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4
During the 1990s, politics in the small post-Soviet state of Moldova was more competitive than anyone would have expected. Yet there was less to this surprising pluralism than met the eye.
October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4
Why did Belarusians return dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka to power in September 2001? Could a better-managed opposition campaign have made a difference?
October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4
In March 2002, three-fifths of Ukraine’s voters chose a party or coalition opposed to the overbearing presidential apparatus of Leonid Kuchma, but the antipresidential forces found themselves frozen out in the new parliament.
October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4
The Gambia provides a lesson in how authoritarians can hold votes yet rob their people of the power that the ballot box is supposed to give them.
July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
The November elections were peaceful and competitive. For the third straight time, voters chose a conservative who embraced democratic liberties.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
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 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Elections, usually taken to be a hallmark of democracy, can also become a tool of authoritarian powerholders seeking to legitimate their rule.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Today, Africa south of the Sahara has a relatively small number of both democracies and full-blown dictatorships,along with a large number of hard-to-define regimes that fit neither category.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Argentina made headlines around the world last December as its presidency changed hands no fewer than four times in less than two weeks. Lost amid the chaos, however, were hopeful signs that the country has now turned the corner of democratic consolidation.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
The effects of electoral systems and of federalism are usually examined separately, but a review of the leading federations shows that it is essential to consider the interaction between the two in designing democratic institutions.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Italy has long mixed great local and regional diversity with a unitary approach to governance. In October 2001, however, Italian voters approved a series of changes to their country’s Constitution that could mark a decisive turn toward federalism.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Last year, Bulgarians elected their newly returned former king as prime minister and then, in a shocking upset, ousted their incumbent president. What do these results portend for the future of Bulgarian democracy?
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Political scientists have long theorized that the use of “preferential” election systems can help promote successful conflict management in divided societies. As it turns out, evidence from five real-world cases supports this conclusion.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
Recent parliamentary elections showed the continuing strengths and weaknesses of Bangladeshi democracy. Although the country does have strong political parties and a decade of democratic elections, the intense antipathy between government and opposition will continue to cause problems well into the future.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
Irresponsible leadership and ill-designed institutions have made this island republic prey to a bitter and violent ethnic conflict that is threatening to undermine democracy itself.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
How can Burma peacefully move away from military rule and toward a stable democratic system based on sound electoral and federal arrangements?
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Israel began directly electing its prime minister in 1992, only to abandon this change less than ten years later. What came between was a series of hard lessons in the unintended consequences or reform.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
In Peru in 2000, the OAS made an unprecedented diplomatic intervention in a member state. Could this be a model for the future?
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Although the OAS helped, sudden public revelations of corruption in Peru were more important.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Direct democracy has come in for praise as being closer to the people’s will than representative democracy. A closer look at the sources of public support, however, reveals some surprises.
