Subject: Institutions

January 1995, Volume 6, Issue 1

Italy’s Civic Divide

A review of Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, by Robert D. Putnam, with Robert Leonardi and Raffaella Y. Nanetti.

Why Democracy by Referendum Seldom Works

Ecuador’s presidents have a history of asking the public to back their initiatives rather than building political coalitions to accomplish their goals. The country’s current president is no different — and it comes at a high cost.

Inside the Fight to Save Israeli Democracy

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the public to see his efforts to overhaul the Israeli judiciary as a “reform.” But people have seen it for what it is: a struggle over the very future of democracy itself.