Why National Identity Matters
From enhancing physical security to encouraging mutual trust, an inclusive sense of national identity continues to be crucial to the flourishing of modern states.
October 2018
Volume 29, Issue 4
Democracy’s “Near Misses”
What factors help a democracy to survive a crisis? A study of cases in which democracy suffered a steep decline, yet ultimately recovered and endured, offers new insights. In moments of crisis, unelected and nonmajoritarian actors can play a pivotal role.
Latin America's Shifting Politics
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: Mexico’s Party System Under Stress
AMLO’s sweeping victory in Mexico’s 2018 elections could point to a long-term dealignment of the country’s party system, but it is more likely that a less radical process of partisan recomposition will take place.
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: The Fading of Costa Rica’s Old Parties
Long hailed as one of the region’s most vigorous democracies, this small Central American country has seen voters swing massively toward newcomers and away from the two traditionally dominant parties.
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: The Peace Process and Colombia’s Elections
Colombian voters turned against the architects of the peace accord ending the country’s decades-old internal war, while giving the presidency to a lieutenant of ex-president Uribe, the agreement’s leading opponent.
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: Virtue, Fortune, and Failure in Peru
Less than two years after an extremely close presidential election, the supporters of Keiko Fujimori took advantage of a corruption scandal to cut short the presidency of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: Ecuador After Correa
The question of succession is a tricky one for populist leaders. In Ecuador, it has produced a surprising reversal for Rafael Correa, who had thoroughly dominated the political scene for the past decade.
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: The Lessons of Bolivia
A disconnect between Bolivia’s old party system and the country’s deeper social-cleavage structure led to a massive shift in politics there. What lessons might be drawn for other nations?
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: Democratic Survival and Weakness
Democracy is enduring in Latin America, but it cannot be said to be prospering. Illiberalism and polarization are rising. Yet core democratic institutions remain firmly in place, and therein lies hope.
The Downfall of Malaysia’s Ruling Party
In Malaysia’s May 2018 general election, a grand bargain between ex–prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and reform leader Anwar Ibrahim produced a political earthquake that ended 61 years of rule by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO).
The Surprising Instability of Competitive Authoritarianism
Most competitive authoritarian regimes have proven strikingly unstable over recent decades. Quasi-democratic institutions, rather than serving authoritarians as useful instruments of manipulation, have frequently contributed to the breakdown of these systems.
Liberal Democracy’s Crisis of Confidence
Public-opinion data from Pew Research Center show that global support for representative democracy is widespread, but often thin. Amid rising economic anxiety, cultural unease, and political frustration, citizens are increasingly open to alternative systems of government.
Understanding Authoritarian Regionalism
Taking advantage of broad global respect for regionalism, authoritarian regimes are using their own regional organizations to bolster fellow autocracies. These groupings offer a mechanism for lending legitimacy, redistributing resources, and insulating members from democratic influences.
Review Essay: Why Tunisia?
A review of Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly by Safwan M. Masri.
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Cambodia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Pakistan, Rwanda, Swaziland, Turkey, and Zimbabwe.
Documents on Democracy
Report on Nicaragua by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); inaugural address of Ethiopia's new prime minister Abiy Ahmed; remarks by Peruvian president Martín Vizcarra at the Eighth Summit of the Americas; inaugural address of Colombian president Iván Duque