July 2025, Volume 36, Issue 3
Restoring liberalism after illiberalism is no easy task: Leaders face hard choices between acting quickly and effectively while maintaining a commitment to democratic procedure. Worse, their illiberal opponents stand to benefit either way.
October 2023, Volume 34, Issue 4
Generative AI can flood the media, internet, and even personal correspondence, sowing confusion for voters and government officials alike. If we fail to act, mounting mistrust will polarize our societies and tear at our institutions.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Why do ordinary people vote to return to office undemocratic incumbents? New survey experiments in several countries suggest that many voters are willing to put their partisan interests above democratic principles—a finding that may be key to understanding democratic backsliding.
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
If democracies did a better job “delivering” for their citizens, so the thinking goes, people would not be so ready to embrace antidemocratic alternatives. Not so. This conventional wisdom about democratic backsliding is seldom true and often not accurate at all.
Venezuela’s Lost Year | Eric Farnsworth
A year ago Nicolás Maduro stole Venezuela’s election and entrenched his power by jailing and killing those who opposed him. But the world’s democracies don’t need to sit on the sidelines. Here is how they can raise the costs for Maduro.
Polishing Off Populism in Authoritarian Thailand | Dan Slater
Thailand’s current crisis may finally end the cycle of populism and polarization that has crippled its democratic aspirations. But it is also revealing that there are far worse forces undermining Thai democracy.
Why Kenya’s GEN Z Has Taken to the Streets | Judy Mbugua
The country’s young people are no longer willing to accept politics without accountability, and the government’s repressive crackdown is only fueling their movement. GEN Z is reshaping the future of Kenyan democracy.
News & Updates
August 2025
There’s a fine line between genuine cybersecurity and digital authoritarianism. Many autocrats use the pretext of digital order to surveil, silence, and suppress their citizens. State cyber repression creates a climate of fear around social media and the internet, shrinking one of the last remaining spaces for free speech.
July 2025
How resilient are democracies, really? While many countries have gone from democratic to authoritarian and back again, few have been able to sustain their recovery. The following essays offer strategies for defending and deepening democracy around the world.
Most Read
In recent years competitive authoritarianism has emerged in some countries with relatively strong democratic traditions and institutions.
Authoritarians are developing new tools to project their malign influence across the globe. The world of sports can teach us a lot about the games they play.
Forget his excuses. Russia’s autocrat doesn’t worry about NATO. What terrifies him is the prospect of a flourishing Ukrainian democracy.
If democracies did a better job “delivering” for their citizens, so the thinking goes, people would not be so ready to embrace antidemocratic alternatives. Not so. This conventional wisdom about democratic backsliding is seldom true and often not accurate at…
Generative AI can flood the media, internet, and even personal correspondence, sowing confusion for voters and government officials alike. If we fail to act, mounting mistrust will polarize our societies and tear at our institutions.
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By Kurt Weyland
Populism is a mortal threat to liberal democracy, but it rarely hits the mark. The evidence shows that these would-be strongmen require an extraordinary set of circumstances to succeed, which is why they so rarely do.
Plus the entire January 2024 issue, available free of charge for a limited time.
