July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
Democracies have always sparked conflict, disagreement, and deep ideological divisions. Polarized politics are hardly rare in democratic life. So under what conditions does polarization turn violent, and how can this danger be contained?
July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
Less than one percent of philanthropy is directed to democratic freedoms. Yet freedom is essential for everything—health, education, climate—philanthropy tries to accomplish. It is the most underpriced asset, and we are due for a market correction.
July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
He did the hard work of defeating Viktor Orbán. But Hungary’s new prime minister faces the harder task of undoing the damage his predecessor wrought. Can he do it while avoiding the traps Orbán left in his wake?
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Artificial intelligence is often seen as a silver bullet for authoritarians, a breakthrough technology making repression cheaper, faster, and more precise. But it has inherent weaknesses, and dictators can’t escape these dilemmas.
Why Latin America’s Losers Won’t Concede | Alejandro González Ruiz
Flávio Bolsonaro lost Brazil’s presidential election and then did a predictable thing: He claimed it was stolen. Why are the region’s runners-up constantly crying foul when they lose free and fair elections?
Yes, Protest Still Works. Serbia Just Proved It. | Srdja Popovic
Serbia’s student movement just peacefully ousted the country’s corrupt leader by turning their protests into political power. They did it by marrying creativity to strategy, organization, and outreach.
Is Egypt’s Sisi Really Stepping Down in 2030? | Hesham Sallam
Or is this just another ruse? Either way, the fine print in Sisi’s statements suggests even greater military control of Egypt’s elections and political life.
News & Updates
October 2026
Today the chief threat to democracy comes not from generals in the streets but from elected leaders dismantling it from within.
September 2026
For the first time since the party’s founding in 2013, the “firewall” that has kept the far right out of German government is trembling. Can it hold? And what does the AfD’s breakthrough reveal about the health of democracy across Europe?
Most Read
The United States has slid into competitive authoritarianism. The slide has been modest and remains reversible—but it is real. Even after Donald Trump, American democracy will remain fragile.
Nicolás Maduro brazenly stole Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, despite a free, fair, and transparent ballot count that showed a clear opposition victory. Why would an autocrat want to maintain one of the world’s best voting systems?
Americans have never been angrier with one another. But polarization is not the disease—it is the response to a revanchist movement seeking to roll back sixty years of social progress.
Forget his excuses. Russia’s autocrat doesn’t worry about NATO. What terrifies him is the prospect of a flourishing Ukrainian democracy.
Old-fashioned military coups and blatant election-day fraud are becoming mercifully rarer these days, but other, subtler forms of democratic regression are a growing problem that demands more attention.
Read our entire October 2025 issue, featuring “What Democracy Does … and Does Not Do” by Maya Tudor.
