January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Facing Up to the Democratic Recession
Democracy has been in a global recession for most of the last decade, and committed and resourceful engagement by the established democracies is necessary to reverse this trend.
Articles
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
China’s Challenge
As China’s power grows, will it seek to remake the world in its authoritarian image? For now, China shows no such missionary impulse, but the ways in which it pursues its interests can still threaten the fate of democracy.
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Russia’s Political System: Imperialism and Decay
The system of personalized power that has long ruled Russia now faces a new crisis, and it is trying to avert decay through the reassertion of empire.
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Michnik’s Homage to Havel
A review of An Uncanny Era: Conversations Between Václav Havel and Adam Michnik, translated and edited by Elzbieta Matynia.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
From Politics to Protest
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.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
India’s Watershed Vote: Behind Modi’s Victory
India’s sixteenth general election ushered in a new era in the country’s politics, putting Narendra Modi and the BJP firmly in charge. What accounts for the sharp swing away from the long-dominant Congress party?
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
India’s Watershed Vote: Hindu Nationalism in Power?
Will India under the BJP see a period of renewed communal violence, or will Hindu-nationalist politicians be reined in by constitutional constraints and their desire to stay in power?
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
India’s Watershed Vote: What It Means for the Economy
Modi promised “good days” to aspiring young Indians, and they voted for him in droves. But he is off to a slow start in carrying out the economic reforms necessary to ensure that better days lie ahead.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
India’s Watershed Vote: The Risks Ahead
Will the Modi government focus on the economy, or will it seek to implement a transformational Hindu-nationalist agenda?
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Growth, Security, and Democracy in Africa
Democracy’s fortunes rose in Africa in the 1990s, but more recently have been in retreat. The forces of democratic resurgence remain in play, however, as a look at the key case of Nigeria suggests.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Euroskepticism Arrives: Marginal No More
The European Parliament elections of May 2014 were not an “earthquake,” but they did signal that Euroskeptic parties are drawing closer to the European political mainstream.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Euroskepticism Arrives: The Missing Debate
Disagreements over how much power should reside in Brussels must be allowed to become a normal aspect of debates about European affairs.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Indonesia’s 2014 Elections: Parliament and Patronage
Indonesia’s 2014 legislative elections went smoothly. Yet the “money politics” that featured so heavily in these contests suggests a grave need to reform the country’s electoral system.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Indonesia’s 2014 Elections: How Jokowi Won and Democracy Survived
Indonesians came close to electing as their new president a populist challenger promising to restore the country’s predemocratic order. Democracy prevailed in the end, but its continued vulnerability was exposed.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
External Influence and Democratization: Gatekeepers and Linkages
Levitsky and Way’s account of linkage and leverage leaves out the key role of “gatekeeper” elites.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
External Influence and Democratization: The Revenge of Geopolitics
Advancing the democratic cause is threatening to autocrats, and they will fight back.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
External Influence and Democratization: Structure vs. Choice
Linkage and leverage largely reflect long-term structural factors, and only in certain situations can they be affected by policy choices.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Manipulating Term Limits in Latin America
More and more Latin American countries have sought to relax or even eliminate presidential term limits. What are the consequences for democracy?
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Flirting with Disaster
A review of The Confidence Trap: A History of Democracy in Crisis from World War I to the Present by David Runciman.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The End of the Transitions Era?
Regime change will always be a feature of political life, but we are unlikely to see again transitions to democracy on the scale of the “third wave.”