January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
African politics is often characterized as a realm of “informality,” but formal rules and institutions actually loom large, especially with regard to overweening executive power and the reforms that may help to rein it in.
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
The left-right ideological divide has begun to narrow in Latin America as citizens and leaders increasingly choose a pragmatic approach to politics and embrace the rules of the democratic game.
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
Hugo Chávez has been running a bounded competitive-authoritarian regime for some time, but its ability to compete is now slipping. Will this tend to make it less authoritarian—or even more so?
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
Often thought of as a “nascent” democracy, Colombia actually has longstanding democratic institutions. In 2010, they were effective in determining who would succeed a highly popular, two-term president.
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
Imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, is best known for his eloquent and incisive essays. Two of them are featured here: “Can It Be That the Chinese People Deserve Only ‘Party-Led Democracy’?” and “Changing the Regime by Changing Society.”
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
A review of Lonely Power: Why Russia Has Failed to Become the West and the West Is Weary of Russia by Lilia Shevtsova.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Latin America’s hard-won democratic gains must be defended by addressing he economic disparities fueling a drift toward populism.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
The lines between the development-aid and democracy-aid communities have been blurring, in terms of both organizational boundaries and activities on the ground, but the convergence is far from complete.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
The development community now agrees with the democracy community that politics matters, but the two communities still differ in their understanding of what drives changes in institutions.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Development specialists and democracy-support experts should recognize—and maximize—each other’s relative strengths and comparative advantages.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Are technologies giving greater voice to democratic activists in authoritarian societies, or more powerful tools to their oppressors?
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Religion in various forms is burgeoning in the PRC today, and the ruling Chinese Communist Party cannot decide what to make of it—or do about it.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Yemen today finds itself gripped by a set of crises that threatens its very unity as a country. Only a turn toward democratic dialogue offers a way out.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
A group of countries in sub-Saharan Africa are showing they can sustain economic growth, reduce poverty, and achieve better governance at the same time.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Efforts to do comparative research on political attitudes have been complicated by varying understandings of “democracy.” The Afrobarometer is exploring new techniques to overcome this difficulty.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Over the years, the Asian Barometer Survey has yielded some surprising results. A new typological analysis helps to make sense of them.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
How can Chinese claim strongly to support both democracy and their authoritarian regime? The answer may lie in a Confucian concept of democracy.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Arabs express a clear preference for democracy, which they define in ways similar to citizens elsewhere in the world. But their authoritarian regimes are not listening.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Since the return of multipartism in sub-Saharan Africa, open-seat elections have been the most likely to yield opposition victories, suggesting that term limits may significantly contribute to democratic consolidation.
