554 Results
January 2024, Volume 35, Issue 1
Advanced AI faces twin perils: the collapse of democratic control over key state functions or the concentration of political and economic power in the hands of the few. Avoiding these risks will require new ways of governing.
January 2021, Volume 32, Issue 1
The return to power, via elections, of the Rajapaksa family signals the consolidation of a Sinhalese Buddhist ethnocracy. But there are reasons to hope it will not take a turn toward full despotism.
January 2016, Volume 27, Issue 1
The surprising electoral defeat of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January 2015 was reinforced by his failed comeback in August parliamentary elections.
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
Although active or retired military officers still hold top government posts, direct rule by the military as an institution is over, at least for now.
April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2
Despite a rocky first term, Peronist President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner saw her popularity rebound, leading to a huge reelection victory in 2011. Why is Peronism still the dominant “brand” in Argentine politics, and how has she come to own it so thoroughly?
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
Having only recently emerged from a prolonged and remarkably bitter civil war, Sri Lanka is now slipping steadily under the hardening authoritarian control of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family.
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
LGBT+ rights are under threat across the globe. Populist leaders stirring fear and animosity for political gain understand how democratic institutions can be harnessed and manipulated to curtail these rights, not enshrine them.
January 2009, Volume 20, Issue 1
The opposition within Cuba has become more diverse as well as more unified, and the regime, despite its enduring capacity for repression, is showing signs of underlying weakness.
April 2010, Volume 21, Issue 2
Those who warn against efforts to promote free elections in Muslim-majority countries often point to the threat posed by Islamic parties that stand ready to use democracy against itself. But what does the record really show regarding the ability of Islamic parties to win over Muslim voters?
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
Lacking any ideas for shoring up Russian society, Putin has settled on picking a fight with Ukraine.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Tiny countries have come in for praise as miniature models of democracy, but closer examination tells a mainly more somber tale.
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
Both Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe have undergone significant democratization in recent years. Yet each region retains a distinctive approach, grounded in its own history, to common problems of social welfare and inequality.
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
Evidence suggests that under some circumstances repeated elections, even if flawed, can lead to democratization.
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
Claudia Sheinbaum won Mexico’s presidency in a landslide, but celebration of her election as the country’s first female president was blunted by a deeper concern: Mexico’s deteriorating democracy. In truth, the country’s democratic institutions are highly resilient, and there is reason to be optimistic about what lies ahead.
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
While the people of South Asia, especially those with higher levels of education and exposure to the media, prefer democracy to authoritarianism, they are willing to relax some of the requirements of liberal democracy.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
In May, Ethiopia held its first genuinely competitive elections. The strong showing of opposition parties gives hope for a more democratic future.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
The 2024 election led to a dramatic changing of the guard, ushering in new political leaders and ousting dynastic elites. Can a new president correct the corruption and misgovernance of the past?
Spring 1990, Volume 1, Issue 2
Excerpts from: the victory speech of Nicaraguan presidential candidate Violeta Barrios de Chamorro; South African president F.W. de Klerk’s speech opening Parliament; the platform of Lithuania’s pro-independence Sajudis movement.
Venezuela’s opposition defeated Nicolás Maduro in the country’s July presidential election, but the Venezuelan strongman refuses to relinquish power. The Journal of Democracy essays below, free for a limited time, chronicle Venezuela’s struggle against Maduro’s authoritarianism — and what makes this election different.
