Subject: Institutions
April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
Economic Reform and Democracy: Can the Middle East Compete?
Read the full essay here.
April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
Economic Reform and Democracy: Crisis and Opportunity in Africa
Read the full essay here.
April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
Economic Reform and Democracy: The Politics of Safety Nets
Read the full essay here.
April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
Parliaments Over Presidents
A review of The Failure of Presidential Democracy, edited by Juan J. Linz and Arturo Valenzuela.
April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
“Civil” and Other Societies
A review of Civil Society and the State in Africa, edited by John W. Harbeson, Donald Rothchild, and Naomi Chazan.
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.
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Rethinking Civil Society: Postcommunism and the Problem of Trust
Read the full essay here.
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Rethinking Civil Society: Russia’s Fourth Transition
Read the full essay here.
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Latin America’s Critical Elections: Brazil at an Impasse
Read the full essay here.
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Updates on Japan & Italy: Rock of Sisyphus or Road to Reform?
Read the full essay here.
January 1994, Volume 5, Issue 1
The Axis Powers 50 Years Later: Italy—The Twilight of the Parties
Read the full essay here.
January 1994, Volume 5, Issue 1
Delegative Democracy
Read the full essay here. Image credit: GIAN MASKO/AFP via Getty Images)
October 1993, Volume 4, Issue 4
The Challenge of Ethnic Conflict: Democracy in Divided Societies
Read the full essay here.
July 1993, Volume 4, Issue 3
International Organizations & Democracy: The CSCE in the New Era
Read the full essay here.
Spring 1991, Volume 2, Issue 2
Shortcuts to Liberty
A review of To Craft Democracies: An Essay on Democratic Transitions, by Giuseppe Di Palma.
Winter 1991, Volume 2, Issue 1
The First Democracy
A review of Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy, by Donald Kagan.
January 2026, Volume 1, Issue 37
How to Bring Authoritarians to Justice
Brazil did something that few democracies achieve: It convicted a former president of attempting a coup. How did the country’s courts hold would-be autocrat Jair Bolsonaro accountable when so many other coup plotters go unpunished?
January 2026, Volume 1, Issue 37
Inside Modi’s Assault on Academic Freedom
Narendra Modi and his ruling BJP have developed the textbook attack on India’s universities and centers of free thought. It offers a vital warning for other countries where higher education is in danger.
January 2026, Volume 1, Issue 37
What Institutions Truly Subvert Democracy?
Authoritarians often abuse electoral systems and institutional power to thwart majority will. But the basic principles of democracy—political participation, fundamental rights, and the rule of law—can take shape in more than one way.
January 2026, Volume 1, Issue 37
Guarding Against Minority Rule
While attending to the risk of majoritarian abuse, we must also guard against institutions that empower—and even entrench—authoritarian minorities.
Fall 1990, Volume 1, Issue 4
Debate—Presidents vs. Parliaments: Comparing Democratic Systems
Read the full essay here.
Fall 1990, Volume 1, Issue 4
Debate—Presidents vs. Parliaments: The Centrality of Political Culture
Read the full essay here.
Fall 1990, Volume 1, Issue 4
Debate—Presidents vs. Parliaments: The Virtues of Parliamentarianism
Read the full essay here.
Fall 1990, Volume 1, Issue 4
An Arab Path to Democracy?
A review of Unruly Corporatism: The Associational Life in Twentieth-Century Egypt, by Robert Bianchi.
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.
People Say Democracy Isn’t Working
So, why don’t they want to fix it?
El desastre democrático de México
El presidente saliente del país está determinado a arrasar con el sistema judicial mexicano. Su ataque al Estado de Derecho es aún más preocupante de lo que se piensa.
Mexico’s Democratic Disaster
The country’s outgoing president is determined to bulldoze Mexico’s judicial system. His attack on the rule of law is even worse than most people realize.
Can Mexico’s Next President Control the Military?
The country’s military brass has a larger role governing Mexico than at any time in the past eighty years. It’s creating a dangerous dependency that won’t be easy to break. Can the generals be reined in?
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.
Why Don’t Voters Care About Local Government?
National politics is increasingly overshadowing everything else, even as local government does more and more. Here’s how to right the balance.