October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
The Specter Haunting Europe: Surging Illiberalism in the East
The crisis of liberal democracy is Europe-wide, but it has assumed an especially intense form in Central and Eastern Europe.
Articles
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
The Specter Haunting Europe: The Unraveling of the Post-1989 Order
What some had thought would be the “end of history” has instead turned out to be the “new world disorder.” Democratic liberalism may have no new ideological rival, but older identities are powerfully reasserting themselves.
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
Tunisia: Ennahda’s New Course
Tunisia is a small country, but its influential Islamist party has taken a big step by separating its political wing from its religious activities.
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
Iraq’s Year of Rage
Iraqis of all ethnic and sectarian stripes are fed up with the ineptitude and corruption of their political leaders, parties, and government institutions.
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
The Vote in the Philippines: Electing A Strongman
The surprise victory of Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines’ May 2016 presidential election represents a major shift in the liberal-democratic regime established thirty years ago after the “people power” revolution.
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
The Vote in the Philippines: Elite Democracy Disrupted?
Duterte promised voters that he would swiftly reduce crime and poverty and enact constitutional change. But will he violate democratic norms and rule of law in the process?
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
Peru: A Close Win for Continuity
Peru’s economic boom is over and newly elected president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski faces a Congress dominated by opposition parties, putting him in a more precarious position than his predecessors.
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
When Dictators Die
What political consequences can we expect when aging dictators die while in power? A fifth of the world’s autocracies are facing such a possibility, but the evidence shows that this may not augur well for democracy.
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
Particularism’s Empire
A review of The Quest for Good Governance: How Societies Develop Control of Corruption by Alina Mungiu-Pippidi.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
The Danger of Deconsolidation: The Democratic Disconnect
Is democratic deconsolidation underway in the United States and Europe? In recent years, support for democracy, especially among millennials, has been dwindling in a number of established democracies.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
The Danger of Deconsolidation: How Much Should We Worry?
The evidence presented by Foa and Mounk is troubling, but it does not mean that democracy is now in long-term decline.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
25 Years After the USSR: What’s Gone Wrong?
A quarter-century after the Soviet breakup, democracy has hardly fared well across the vast Eurasian landmass. Why has this seemingly promising gain for freedom produced such disappointing results?
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
The Struggle Over Term Limits in Africa: How International Pressure Can Help
The interplay between elections, popular protests, and international pressures has a profound effect on the behavior of African autocrats and their ability to stay in power even after their time is up.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
The Struggle Over Term Limits in Africa: The Power of Protest
As more and more African presidents attempt to remove or circumvent constitutional term limits, African populations increasingly are mobilizing en masse, at great risk, to defend their constitutions.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
The Struggle Over Term Limits in Africa: A New Look at the Evidence
There is strong empirical evidence to support the correlation between effective term limits and the quality of democracy.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
The Assault on Postcommunist Courts
A number of countries in East-Central Europe are facing a grave crisis of constitutional democracy. As their governments seek to undermine the institutional limits on their power, constitutional courts have become a central target.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
Xi Jinping’s Maoist Revival
Far from being a reformer, as some had hoped, President Xi Jinping has launched the most sweeping ideological campaign seen in China since Mao. Xi is mixing nationalism, Leninism, and Maoism in ways that he hopes will cement continued one-party Communist rule.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
Delegative Democracy Revisited: More Inclusion, Less Liberalism in Bolivia
Over the last decade or so, Bolivia has made great progress at wider political and social inclusion, but at some cost to civil liberties and horizontal accountability.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
Delegative Democracy Revisited: Ecuador Under Correa
One of the first Latin American countries to make a democratic transition as the 1970s ended, Ecuador struggled in its search for political stability. Now it appears to have more stability, but that stability appears more authoritarian than democratic.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
Delegative Democracy Revisited: Brazil’s Accountability Paradox
Latin America’s largest country has managed vastly to enlarge the share of its citizens who can take part in politics and need no longer live in poverty, and has robust horizontal accountability to boot. Vertical accountability, however, has suffered.