Articles

January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1

Europe Moves Eastward: Concluding Reflections

The fall of the Berlin Wall gave East Europeans a euphoric sense that they were about to give European democacy a new direction. But as many of their countries prepare to join the EU, little has worked out as expected in those heady days.

January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1

Fox’s Mexico at Midterm

Mexico’s 2003 congressional elections confirmed both the transition to fully competitive politics and the persistence of structural deficiencies associated with a multiparty presidential system.

January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1

Putin’s Deep Freeze

A review of Popular Choice and Managed Democracy: The Russian Elections of 1999 and 2000 by Timothy J. Colton and Michael McFaul; Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State by David Satter; and Putin's Russia by Lilia Shevtsova.

Free

October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4

Reviving Middle Eastern Liberalism

For about a century after 1850, the Middle East enjoyed an imperfect yet real "Liberal Age." The roots of some of the key institutions of that era remain today. Can they be nurtured into a second spring?

October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4

The Crisis of Indian Secularism

The principled separation of religious from political claims upon which Indian democracy depends may not be dead, but it is ailing badly. How did things reach this pass, and what is the prognosis for recovery?

October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4

Pakistan’s “Armored” Democracy

Four years after his bloodless coup, Pervez Musharraf is executing a military “exit strategy” from politics that involves lots in the way of problematic strategy and little in the way of real exit from political power.

October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4

Electoral Systems: A Primer for Decision Makers

The rules that govern voting will always be of vital importance in any democracy. The beginning of wisdom is to turn from the usual focus on electoral systems in order to reflect on larger goals and the trade-offs among them that may be necessary.