1034 Results
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
Vladimir Putin has pulled the plug on democracy in Russia in an effort to strengthen the authority of the central state. But a look at Russian federal relations shows that the state is growing weaker rather than stronger.
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
At the end of the Cold War, semipresidentialism became the modal constitution of the postcommunist world. In Russia and other post-Soviet states, however, this system of government has impeded consolidation.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Hopes for democratization now rest on the shoulders of the young. Who are they, what do they believe, and what are their political leanings? Survey data offer some clues.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
The democracy versus “eco-authoritarianism” dilemma is false. The answer is more and better democracy.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
Democracies — facing gridlock and polarization — often fall short. But it should be remembered that dictatorships do even more harm.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
After the collapse of the Assad regime, Syria stands at a crossroads. Nothing is assured, but the country’s civil society is its best hope for charting a democratic future.
Is global democracy really in freefall? Here’s what they think.
The last Soviet leader brought down his regime and ended the Cold War. The free world owes him a debt of gratitude. | By Lucan Ahmad Way
From Putin’s invasion to Kim’s nuclear saber rattling, the West has punished the world’s worst regimes. But have sanctions missed their targets?
Tunisia’s president is looking to strengthen his chokehold on the country. 10 February 2022 By Nate Grubman As much of the world trains its eyes on the looming crisis on Ukraine’s border, Tunisia’s Kais Saied is stepping up efforts to consolidate a dictatorship in what, for the last decade, had been widely hailed as…
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
The claim that ethnic minorities have a moral and legal right to secede from states is a dangerous fiction with perilous implications for divided societies.
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
Paradoxically, the rising profile of “liberation technology” may push Internet-control efforts into nontechnological areas—imprisonment rather than censorship, for example—for which there is no easy technical “fix.”
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
Robert Michels’s classic work on the “iron law of oligarchy” can help us to understand why there is so much dissatisfaction with representative democracy.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
A comic actor’s triumph in Ukraine’s free and competitive 2019 presidential race reflects distrust of establishment elites and a deep desire for change.
January 2013, Volume 24, Issue 1
China is heading toward a tipping point, with two likely scenarios for how a political opening will come about. Most Chinese intellectuals think that only gradualism—“slow and steady,” step-by-step reform—can offer China a safe and feasible path toward liberal democracy. But they are wrong. Instead of “taking it slow,” China should shun gradualism and opt…
April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2
Do democracy and good governance necessarily go hand-in-hand? In most Southeast Asian countries, a gap exists between the two. How should we understand good governance in an authoritarian context? And what does poor governance mean for the legitimacy of democracy?
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Since its transition to democracy barely a decade ago, Indonesia has begun projecting its newly democratic values across international borders. So far, however, its efforts have been largely rhetorical.
July 2010, Volume 21, Issue 3
A new look at the World Values Survey data reveals how the Muslim world’s religious context affects individual Muslims’ attitudes toward democracy.
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
Legislative elections in the Middle East often become contests over patronage and wind up reinforcing authoritarian regimes.
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
Read the full essay here. What role do mainstream Islamist movements play in Arab politics? With their popular messages and broad social base, would their incorporation as normal political actors be the best hope for democratization or democracy’s bane? For too long, we have tried to answer such questions solely by speculating about the true…
