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Johns Hopkins Univ. Press
October 2003

October 2003, Volume 14, Number 4

Reviving Middle Eastern Liberalism
Saad Eddin Ibrahim

For about a century after 1850, the Middle East enjoyed an imperfect yet real "Liberal Age." The roots of some of the key institutions of that era remain today. Can they be nurtured into a second spring?

The Crisis of Indian Secularism
Sumit Ganguly

The principled separation of religious from political claims upon which Indian democracy depends may not be dead, but it is ailing badly. How did things reach this pass, and what is the prognosis for recovery?

Pakistan's "Armored" Democracy
Aqil Shah

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.

Making Sense of the European Union

  • Competing Goals, Conflicting Perspectives
    Marc F. Plattner

    Is the EU an international organization, an emerging federal state, something in between, or something altogether different? So far it has managed to survive and prosper despite all the disagreements about its true nature, but for how long can it continue to do so?


  • The Achievements of the Convention
    Yves Mény

    Building democracy at the supernational level is an unprecedented task, but so once was building democracy at the level of the modern state. And the progress of the EU in the last half-century has been remarkable.


  • Democracy in Europe and Europe's Democratization
    Philippe C. Schmitter

    Europe faces a potentially dangerous "double bind": The legitimacy of domestic democracy in the member states is waning, and citizens are increasingly unhappy with the EU's lack of accountability-but the new draft Constitution fails to address the problem.


  • Toward a Cosmopolitan Europe
    Jürgen Habermas

    The EU represents an opportunity not only to fashion a postnational welfare state capable of responding to a postnational economy, but to lay a groundwork that will ultimately make possible a global domestic policy.


  • The Challenge for Democracy
    Ralf Dahrendorf

    The EU was founded partly for the purpose of strengthening democracy, but it has been created in a way that is intrinsically not democratic.
Electoral Systems: A Primer for Decision Makers
Donald L. Horowitz

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.

What Europe Means for Poland
Adam Michnik

The famed former dissident reflects on the lessons learned from Poland's transformation, the anxieties that continue to beset his country, and the hopes and fears that attend its return to Europe.

Can Democracy Be Taught?
Steven E. Finkel

Civic education can enhance democratic values and participation among adults in young democracies, but the training must be frequent and participatory. Otherwise adult civic education may not be worth doing.

"Can Democracy Be Taught?" Survey Questions, Statistical Methods, and Other Technical Material (PDF)

Argentina Weathers the Storm
Steven Levitsky and María Victoria Murillo

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.

Books In Review

  • The Illusion of Liberal Autocracy
    Larry Diamond

    A review of The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad by Fareed Zakaria.


  • Toward a Science of Ethnic Conflict?
    Hugh Donald Forbes

    A review of The Deadly Ethnic Riot by Donald L. Horowitz and Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India by Ashutosh Varshney.

Election Watch

  • Brief reports on elections in Cambodia, Jordan, Kuwait, Mexico, and Rwanda.

Documents on Democracy

  • Excerpts from a November 2002 lecture delivered by the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative in Iraq, the late Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was killed in the August 19 bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad.


  • Excerpts from the May 25 inaugural address of Argentinian president Néstor Kirchner.


  • Excerpts from a May 17 speech by Zainah Anwar, executive director of Sisters in Islam, a Kuala Lumpur-based organization that advocates a more liberal interpretation of Islam and wider roles for women in Muslim societies.
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