October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
The Rise of Political Violence in the United States
In a deeply polarized United States, ordinary people now consume and espouse once-radical ideas and are primed to commit violence.
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
India’s Endangered Democracy
Shortcomings in governance and electoral administration may be accelerating India’s slide to autocracy. Were these flaws embedded in Indian democracy from the start?
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Armenia, Ethiopia, Iran, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Russia, Zambia.
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Sergei Adamovich’s remarks on the death of Andrei Sakharov; Marjan Farsad’s “Moonlight”; joint letter for a global moratorium on surveillance-technology sales; Zambian president Haikande Hichilema’s inaugural address.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Latin America Erupts: Ecuador’s Return to the Past
Reformist leaders offered order, stability, and progress. But the country’s deep-seated political pathologies have proven far more durable than their promises.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Latin America Erupts: Millennial Authoritarianism in El Salvador
Nayib Bukele has developed a blend of political tactics that combines populist appeals and classic autocratic behavior with a polished social-media brand. It poses a dire threat to the country’s democratic institutions.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Latin America Erupts: Re-founding Chile
Chilean democracy has opted to throw off a constitution written by a dictator, and has chosen an assembly to craft a new one. Can Chile begin anew?
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Latin America Erupts: Peru Goes Populist
Instead of ending the instability that has seen the country have four presidents in three years, Peru’s presidential election has left the country on a razor-thin edge.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Latin America Erupts: When Does Competitive Authoritarianism Take Root?
It is not easy to build a stable hybrid regime. Elected autocrats may try, but comparing Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela shows how difficult it is to succeed.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Latin America Erupts: The Danger of Democratic Delinquency
Recent high-profile scandals have laid bare persistent shortcomings of Latin American democracy that, if unaddressed, could prove fatal.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
How Personalist Politics is Changing Democracies
Once mostly found in authoritarian regimes, personalism is now putting established democracies in peril—a trend that digital technology will likely make worse.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
How Authoritarians Inflate Their Image
Authoritarian propaganda and manipulation are leading democratic publics to see foreign autocracies as more powerful than they actually are.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
China at the UN: Choking Civil Society
Beijing is using red tape, procedural rules, and a little help from its authoritarian allies to strangle NGOs seeking to participate in the world body.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Africans’ Durable Demand for Democracy
The latest survey wave finds Africans with a still-robust demand for democratic governance, unblunted by covid or Chinese influence. Can governments deliver?
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
The Future of Platform Power: Quarantining Misinformation
With or without middleware, the basic challenge of responding to bad actors online remains.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
The Future of Platform Power: Fixing the Business Model
To stop surveillance capitalism, take aim at the targeted advertising that fuels it.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
The Future of Platform Power: Reining in Big Tech
Comprehensive regulation can strengthen user rights in the face of tech firms’ exploitative practices.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
The Future of Platform Power: Making Middleware Work
Bringing middleware from theory to practice will require addressing thorny questions about revenue, cost, feasibility, and privacy.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
The Future of Platform Power: Solving for a Moving Target
Despite the challenges, middleware offers a legally and politically feasible answer to platforms’ influence over speech.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
How the Putin Regime Really Works
Is Russia formidable? The answer, two new books argue, lies in the highly centralized inner workings of Putin’s autocracy.