January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Corruption in India: Can the Right to Information Help?
India’s Right to Information Act discourages corruption by giving every citizen the right to access information from any public authority.
Articles
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Debating Electoral Systems: Getting Majoritarianism Right
Contrary to popular wisdom, emerging democracies might be better off with a majoritarian electoral system rather than one based on proportional representation.
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Debating Electoral Systems: Getting Elections Wrong
Evidence from waves of democratization shows proportional election systems, however imperfect, to be the better option in most contexts.
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Between Authoritarianism and Democracy
A review of Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War by Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Comparing the Arab Revolts: The Global Context
Although the Arab revolts have a long way to go before they can be counted as gains for democracy, they do underline what is perhaps democracy’s greatest source of strength worldwide—its superior legitimacy.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Comparing the Arab Revolts: The Lessons of 1989
The Arab events of 2011 may have some similarities to the wave of popular upheavals against authoritarianism that swept the Soviet bloc starting in 1989, but the differences are much more fundamental.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Comparing the Arab Revolts: The Role of the Military
Across the Arab world, militaries have played a key role in determining whether revolts against dictatorship succeed or fail. What factors determine how and why “the guys with guns” line up the way they do?
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Comparing the Arab Revolts: The Impact of Election Systems
Methods of electing legislatures are fraught with consequences for the shape and quality of democracy, and must balance a number of competing goals. Amid the current political ferment of the Arab world, what kinds of electoral systems are emerging and what will they mean for democratic hopes there?
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Comparing the Arab Revolts: Is Saudi Arabia Immune?
Saudi Arabia looked for a time in early 2011 as if it too would become swept up in the Arab uprising. Yet it never quite happened—why?
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Nigeria Votes: More Openness, More Conflict
Nigeria’s 2011 presidential election offered its citizens the most competitive and transparent contest in decades, but also the bloodiest.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Peru’s 2011 Elections: A Vote for Moderate Change
Despite the presidential victory of Ollanta Humala, Peru’s 2011 elections had some continuities with the 2006 contest. The electorate is dividing along regional and socioeconomic rather than partisan lines.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Peru’s 2011 Elections: A Surprising Left Turn
In a runoff between candidates with dubious democratic credentials, former antisystem outsider Ollanta Humala defeated Keiko Fujimori by attracting votes from the middle class.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Do New Democracies Support Democracy? Reluctant India
Though justly vaunted as the world’s largest democracy, India will in all likelihood remain reluctant to take on the mantle of “democracy promoter” for a mix of historical, ideological, and strategic reasons.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Do New Democracies Support Democracy? Indonesia Finds a New Voice
Since its transition to democracy barely a decade ago, Indonesia has begun projecting its newly democratic values across international borders. So far, however, its efforts have been largely rhetorical.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Do New Democracies Support Democracy? Turkey’s Dilemmas
Long an “ultrarealist” power, Turkey has over the last decade begun taking human rights and democracy more seriously as aspects of its diplomacy, albeit still in a decidedly selective way.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Do New Democracies Support Democracy? The Multilateral Dimension
When it comes to backing democracy and human rights in international forums, the behavior of the world’s six most influential rising democracies ranges from sympathetic support to borderline hostility.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Singapore: Authoritarian but Newly Competitive
Singapore has long been known for combining economic development with strict limits on political opposition. But its 2011 parliamentary elections suggest that it is moving toward “competitive authoritarianism.”
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Fukuyama’s Grand Vision
A review of The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution by Francis Fukuyama.
July 2011, Volume 22, Issue 3
The Upheavals in Egypt and Tunisia: Ben Ali’s Fall
The wave of unrest that swept through the Arab world at the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 originated in Tunisia. What happened— and what are the prospects that Tunisia will make a successful transition to democracy?
July 2011, Volume 22, Issue 3
The Upheavals in Egypt and Tunisia: The Road to (and from) Liberation Square
Egyptians threw off the thirty-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, but now find themselves under essentially the same military tutelage that they had hoped to escape.