April 2020, Volume 31, Issue 2
In 2019, the global democratic recession deepened, while protest movements proliferated around the world, fighting largely without leaders or support from major democracies.
April 2020, Volume 31, Issue 2
Algeria’s massive wave of protesters wanted to put an end to sham elections. While the leaderless movement succeeded for a time, its failure showcased the lengths to which a country’s ruling elite will go to maintain its hold on power.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
The mass protests that have taken place in 2019 in Hong Kong and elsewhere show that people’s desire for liberty cannot be extinguished.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
Iran is in the midst of an ideological crisis. Growing numbers of Iranians are rejecting the religious underpinnings of the Supreme Leader’s rule, and turning their backs on the Islamic Republic. The regime’s only response is harsher repression—a response that will deepen the anger that is bringing everyday Iranians out into the streets.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
Demonstrators in Algeria and Sudan have drawn on the experiences of earlier Arab protest movements in their efforts to push for lasting change.
October 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4
The gilets jaunes movement erupted suddenly but has now apparently subsided without leaving a significant impact on electoral politics. Yet the tensions that gave rise to the working-class protests remain strong and are reshaping the political landscape of a divided France.
October 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4
Amid mass protests, the personalist autocracy of longtime Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir fell to an April 2019 coup. With the country now being governed by a council composed of both opposition leaders and powerful security- service coupmakers, prospects for democratization remain uncertain.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Following the settlement of the revolutionary conflicts that long plagued the region, the left was able to reach power through elections. But the results have been discouraging.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
The protests that have been erupting around the world may signal the twilight of both the idea of revolution and the notion of political reformism.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Survey data reveal the makeup of the crowds in the Maidan and the factors that motivated them to take part in the protests.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Media, both new and traditional and both Russian and Ukrainian, played a major role in the EuroMaidan story from the very outset.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The regime of Vladimir Putin has been a key driver of the crisis in Ukraine. Under challenge at home for several years now, it turned to Ukraine in part to firm up its own grip on power in Russia.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Ukrainians flocked to the Maidan to express a “choice for Europe,” but they may also have forged the beginnings of a new Ukrainian identity.
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
In 2013, Bulgaria’s historically passive citizenry exploded in outrage over soaring energy bills and shady elite actions. What does Bulgaria’s year of protest tell us about how civic anger is generated and when it becomes a transformative political resource?
April 2013, Volume 24, Issue 2
Although declines in freedom outnumbered gains yet again in 2012, the year was not without some significant progress, most notably in the case of Libya.
July 2012, Volume 23, Issue 3
A newly awakened Russia is now asking of series of questions, such as how to transform the current system and who will be the actors to lead the transformation.
July 2012, Volume 23, Issue 3
One of the most striking and unexpected features of the recent demonstrations in Russia was the partnership of liberals and nationalists in the ranks of the protesters.
July 2012, Volume 23, Issue 3
After the December 2011 State Duma elections, the Russian opposition and civil society quickly launched large protest rallies in response to electoral fraud.
July 2012, Volume 23, Issue 3
The recent protests in Russia raise the question of whether the Putin regime could fall to a “color” or electoral revolution like those that have ousted other autocratic regimes in postcommunist Europe and Eurasia over the past decade and a half.
July 2011, Volume 22, Issue 3
Despite signs of a cautious willingness to allow more political competition, the regime of newly reelected president Yoweri Museveni fell back on familiar habits of brutal repression when public unrest followed a sudden spike in the cost of living.
July 2011, Volume 22, Issue 3
Having thrown out a corrupt, authoritarian president for the second time, this Central Asian republic has gained a new chance at securing a real democratic transition.
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
Iran’s massive protest movement against June’s electoral coup is now moving into a new phase. What are its prospects?
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
Although China’s farmers did not play a large role in the 1989 protests, they have been quite contentious since. Rural unrest has been triggered in part by reforms and in part by savvy “peasant leaders” who quickly seize opportunities that appear. Recently, many protest leaders have concluded that tame forms of contention are ineffective and…
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
Some of the many China stories to attract attention recently have involved NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) protests by largely middle class crowds gathering to demand a greater say in urban development plans. This article argues that such protests a) are a significant addition to the already complex landscape of Chinese collective action (and signal…
January 2009, Volume 20, Issue 1
Authoritarian weakness alone cannot explain why the mobilization process during the color revolutions assumed similar forms across varied contexts.
October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
A domestic political crisis began brewing in Georgia long before the current conflict with Russia. Since the Rose Revolution, the country has been troubled by flawed elections, a “superpresidency,” and a malleable constitution.
April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
The March 2005 “Tulip Revolution” that toppled President Askar Akeyev is often grouped with the “color revolutions” in Georgia and Ukraine, but in many ways the Kyrgyz case was unique.
