July 2023, Volume 34, Issue 3
Making Liberalism Work
Democratic capitalism is in crisis. But if we are looking to salvage liberalism’s ideals, we should look to the course set by postwar Germany. It offers powerful lessons for the present.
Subject: Economic reform
January 2021, Volume 32, Issue 1
The Arab Spring at 10: Kings or People?
A decade ago, Arab peoples stood up and sought to replace their rulers with a more democratic political project. But Arab autocrats have a project of their own. Can the people gain ground in the struggle for self-government, or will their rulers bear it away?
October 2020, Volume 31, Issue 4
The Bangladesh Paradox
Despite impressive achievements in socioeconomic development, Bangladesh has struggled with establishing democracy and is now effectively under one-party rule.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
China: From Tiananmen to Neo-Stalinism
To grasp why post-Mao China’s remarkable economic development has not aided democracy, we must look first at the policies of top Chinese leaders.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
The Rise of an “Outsider” President
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.
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
Rethinking Central-Bank Independence
Politicians increasingly are attacking central bankers—once viewed as bland, faceless technocrats—for wielding too much power.
April 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2
Latin America’s New Turbulence: Mexico’s Stalled Reforms
The long-ruling PRI staged a comeback in 2012 behind a young president touting a reformist agenda, but Enrique Peña Nieto’s early successes have been eclipsed by government underperformance and a continued failure to restore public security.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
India’s Watershed Vote: What It Means for the Economy
Modi promised “good days” to aspiring young Indians, and they voted for him in droves. But he is off to a slow start in carrying out the economic reforms necessary to ensure that better days lie ahead.
April 2013, Volume 24, Issue 2
Why Greece Failed
Greece was an early success story of the “third wave,” but since the 2008 financial crisis, it has become a poster child for the pains of austerity and unrest. Its troubles at one level are fiscal and economic, but there is a political dimension that may be even more critical.
April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2
Southeast Asia: Elites vs. Reform in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam
Vietnam and its smaller neighbors Laos and Cambodia remain bastions of illiberalism and one-party rule despite rapid economic growth and falling poverty. What will it take to reform their elitist political cultures and curtail the use of public office for private ends?
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
The Impact of the Economic Crisis: Why Democracies Survive
As an analysis of recent electoral results shows, the world’s emerging democracies are weathering the global economic crisis surprisingly well. Yet they remain under an even sharper threat from their own failures to deliver good governance.
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
The Impact of the Economic Crisis: From the G-8 to the G-20
The financial crisis did not deal a fatal blow to any democracies, but it did hasten an erosion of the influence of the West. In the future, the balance of power among competing regime types may be decided by the emerging-market democracies.
July 2010, Volume 21, Issue 3
Chile: Are the Parties Over?
For the first time since the fall of Pinochet, the Chilean right has come to power via free elections. The long-ruling center-left coalition leaves behind many achievements, but also disturbing signs of a weakened party system.
January 2010, Volume 21, Issue 1
The Crash of ’08
The short-term political impact of the economic crisis has been less dramatic than initially expected, but it may have lasting effects on the “quality” of democracy, including the legitimacy of prevailing financial institutions.
January 2010, Volume 21, Issue 1
Twenty Years of Postcommunism: What’s the Matter with Russia?
The author analyses the confluence of several elements that helped to set Russia’s course: the influence of history; the challenges of the transformation process itself; the importance of leadership; and the role of the West.
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy (II): Aiding Latin America’s Poor
Latin American social policy has at times worked backwards, widening rather than narrowing economic and social inequalities. But new conditional cash-transfer programs seem to be producing positive outcomes.
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy (II): How Regions Differ
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.
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
Jordan: Ten More Years of Autocracy
Jordan gets much good press for having one of the more open and liberal regimes in the Arab world, but that reputation masks a considerably grimmer reality.
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
China Since Tiananmen: The Massacre’s Long Shadow
In the two decades since the Tiananmen massacre, China has enjoyed rapid economic growth and a measure of political stability. Recently, however, various forms of popular protest have been increasing. Do they represent a potentially serious threat to CCP rule?
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
China Since Tiananmen: The Labor Movement
Read the full essay here. The twenty years since 1989 have brought two major developments in worker activism. First, whereas workers were part of the mass uprising in the Tiananmen Movement, there is today hardly any sign of mobilization that transcends class or regional lines. Second, a long-term decline in worker power at the point…
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
China Since Tiananmen: Rural Protest
Read the full essay here. Although China’s farmers did not play a large role in the 1989 protests, they have been quite contentious since. Rural unrest has been triggered in part by reforms and in part by savvy “peasant leaders” who quickly seize opportunities that appear. Recently, many protest leaders have concluded that tame forms…
July 2009, Volume 20, Issue 3
Scottish Democracy in a Time of Nationalism
The Scottish National Party proposes to free Scotland from its supposed tutelage to London, but betrays habits of political centralism and elitism that raise questions about the quality of democracy an independent Scotland would enjoy.
January 2009, Volume 20, Issue 1
Can Cuba Change? Tensions in the Regime
Although the transfer of power from Fidel to Raúl has been relatively uneventful, potential divisions within the ruling elite, especially between the military and the Party, are likely to emerge before too long.
October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy: Postcommunist Welfare States
The more-democratic postcommunist countries have maintained stronger social safety nets than their authoritarian counterparts, but they must reassess their welfare policies to address emerging social challenges.
October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy: Growth Without Prosperity in Africa
Fifteen years after the wave of democratization crested in Africa, the region still grapples with an economic malaise that is disappointing popular expectations and undermining the legitimacy of electoral regimes.
October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
Bolivia’s Constitutional Breakdown
Bolivia now finds itself locked in a stalemate between forces bent on “refounding” the country and an eastern region insisting on greater autonomy.
April 2008, Volume 19, Issue 2
Argentina: From Kirchner to Kirchner
Despite key improvements during Néstor Kirchner's presidency, Argentine democracy remains vulnerable to crisis. The near collapse of the party system and weakness of political and economic institutions continue to threaten stability.
April 2008, Volume 19, Issue 2
Politics, Markets, and Society in Lula’s Brazil
Brazil under Lula offers a test case of how politicians and societal interests in developing countries react when economic growth and new possibilities change the name of the game from shock and scarcity to boom and prosperity.
April 2008, Volume 19, Issue 2
Ecuador: Correa’s Plebiscitary Presidency
Long an extreme case of institutionalized instability, Ecuador now has a dynamic young president who is determined to remake its constitution, and eventually its society, in the name of "twenty-first-century socialism."
October 2007, Volume 18, Issue 4
Is East-Central Europe Backsliding? Economic Woes and Political Disaffection
Under the pressure of compliance with the Maastricht convergence criteria governments implement painful welfare state reforms.
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
A “Left Turn” in Latin America? The Urgent Need for Labor Law Reform
Latin America must find a way to include its newly urbanized informal workers in more regular channels of economic and political participation. Updating outmoded labor laws is a key to accomplishing this task.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
Postcommunist Central Banks: A Democratic Deficit?
Independent central banks throughout the former Soviet Union suffer from a dual democratic deficit. How can they gain greater democratic legitimacy without compromising their countries' economic health?
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
The Quality of Democracy: Addressing Inequality
Democracy requires robust political equality, but the persistence of social, economic and cultural inequality complicates its realization.
October 2004, Volume 15, Issue 4
Debate: The Persistence of Arab Authoritarianism
The lack of democracy in the Arab world is a problem that goes far beyond the absence of competitive elections. This lack must be traced not to religion or culture, but to adverse historical and geostrategic circumstances.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
Europe Moves Eastward: Challenges of EU Enlargement
As it prepares to go from 15 to 25 member states, the EU has improved the prospects for democracy in the East, but nothing about enlargement promises to resolve the vexing issue of democracy within the EU structure itself.
January 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1
The 2003 Freedom House Survey: National Income and Liberty
Despite the threats posed by terrorism, 2003 saw a second consecutive year of significant momentum of freedom, and showed encouraging evidence that political rights and civil liberties can endure despite economic privation.
October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4
Argentina Weathers the Storm
In the wake of its recent crisis, Argentina can move from survival to stability only if it responds to demands for institutional change in a way that strengthens the country’s institutions over the long term.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Political Freedom, Economic Liberty, and Prosperity
Liberty and self-government are not only good in themselves, but also have powerful and beneficial effects on a nation’s level of economic development and prosperity.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Democracy, Dictatorship, and Infant Mortality Revisited
New data covering most of the 1990s reveal that democracy, even when minimally defined, has a potent independent impact that tends to reduce infant mortality and promote overall social well-being.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Africa: States in Crisis
Democratic and ecnomic development will become sustainable in sub-Saharan Africa only with the emergence of coherent, legitimate and effective states.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Latin America’s Lost Illusions: Dispirited Politics
The strains of economic reform have not increased support for antidemocratic populism in Latin America, but they have led to acute dissatisfaction with democratic governments.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Latin America’s Lost Illusions: The Future of Structural Reform
As Latin America suffers from its worst economic crisis in decades, the reform of political institutions remains the region’s best hope.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Latin America’s Lost Illusions: Decentralization and Political Parties
Decentralization, heralded as a means of increasing state efficiency and improving representation, has fragmented Latin America’s already weak party systems
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Ten Years After the Soviet Breakup: The Primacy of History and Culture
The 15 states of the former Soviet fall into three broad categories, largely defined by fault lines of history and culture.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Comparing East Asia and Latin America: Stirrings of Mutual Recognition
Global trends toward economic and political liberalization are presenting East Asian and Latin American democracies with increasingly convergent international opportunities and constraints.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Comparing East Asia and Latin America: Dimensions of Development
Such a comparison clearly shows a higher prevalence of democracy in Latin America and a better economic performance in East Asia. The two regions are likely to converge on both dimensions, but the gaps will remain.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Comparing East Asia and Latin America: Capital Mobility and Democratic Stability
Despite the persistent doomsaying about the political consequences of untrammeled international capital flows, financial liberalization may actually contribute to democratic consolidation.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Markets, Law, and Democracy
The experience of “bandit capitalism” or “tyrant capitalism” in postcommunist societies shows that markets cannot work properly without a community of trust and mutual respect. Such a community can be achieved only where there is a rule of law, applied by able and independent judges.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Classical Liberalism Catches On in China
A specter is haunting China-the specter of classical liberalism.
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
Latin America at the Century’s Turn
Recent disappointments have led to excessive pessimism about Latin America’s economic and democratic prospects. International recognition of the region’s diversity and a sense of perspective about its setbacks will improve its chances for further success.
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
The Politics of the Asian Financial Crisis
The political dimensions of the 1997-99 Asian financial crisis have been largely ignored. Yet political factors are crucial to understanding the crisis and the differing ways in which the democracies and authoritarian regimes in the region responded to it.
October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4
Southeast Asia After the Crisis: Thailand’s Successful Reforms
Read the full essay here.
July 1999, Volume 10, Issue 3
Latin America’s Imperiled Progress: The Politics of Second-Generation Reform
Read the full essay here.
July 1999, Volume 10, Issue 3
Latin America’s Imperiled Progress: Cardoso and the Struggle for Reform in Brazil
Read the full essay here.
April 1999, Volume 10, Issue 2
What Went Wrong in Russia? The Haunting Presence of Marxism-Leninism
Read the full essay here.
April 1999, Volume 10, Issue 2
What Went Wrong in Russia? The Feudalization of the State
Read the full essay here.
April 1999, Volume 10, Issue 2
What Went Wrong in Russia? The Roots of the Economic Crisis
Read the full essay here.
April 1999, Volume 10, Issue 2
What Went Wrong in Russia? Creating Perverse Incentives
Read the full essay here.
January 1998, Volume 9, Issue 1
Will China Democratize? The Road From Socialism
Read the full essay here.
January 1998, Volume 9, Issue 1
Will China Democratize? Current Trends and Future Prospects
Read the full essay here.
April 1997, Volume 8, Issue 2
Constraints & Opportunities in the Arab World
Read the full essay here.
January 1996, Volume 7, Issue 1
The New South Africa: Problems of Reconstruction
Read the full essay here.
July 1995, Volume 6, Issue 3
Departures from Communism
A review of From Reform to Revolution: The Demise of Communism in China and the Soviet Union, by Minxin Pei and Sowing the Seeds of Democracy in China: Political Reform in the Deng Xiaoping Era, by Merlec Goldman.
April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
Economic Reform and Democracy
The Editors’ introduction to “Economic Reform and Democracy.”
April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
Economic Reform and Democracy: Beyond Shock Therapy
Read the full essay here.
April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
Economic Reform and Democracy: Can the Middle East Compete?
Read the full essay here.
April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
Economic Reform and Democracy: Crisis and Opportunity in Africa
Read the full essay here.
April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
Economic Reform and Democracy: The Politics of Safety Nets
Read the full essay here.
October 1994, Volume 5, Issue 4
Economic Reform and Democracy
The Editors’ introduction to the Journal of Democracy’s special issue on “Economic Reform and Democracy.”
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Rethinking Civil Society: Russia’s Fourth Transition
Read the full essay here.
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Latin America’s Critical Elections: Brazil at an Impasse
Read the full essay here.
April 1994, Volume 5, Issue 2
Is Russian Democracy Doomed? The Ascent of the Inflationists
Read the full essay here.
April 1994, Volume 5, Issue 2
The Key Role of the Working Class
A review of Capitalist Development and Democracy, by Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Huber Stephens, and John D. Stephens.
July 1993, Volume 4, Issue 3
Politics After Communism: A Horizon of Hope and Fear
Read the full essay here.
April 1992, Volume 3, Issue 2
Problems of Postcommunism: Toward a Civil Economy
Read the full essay here.
January 1992, Volume 3, Issue 1
Old Paradigms & New Openings in Latin America
Read the full essay here.
Fall 1990, Volume 1, Issue 4
South Africa’s Future: Symposium—Anglo American Corporation
Read the full essay here.