April 2023, Volume 34, Issue 2
The Iraq War and Democratic Backsliding
- Emma Sky
The global democratic decline of the last two decades is rarely discussed in the same breath with the 2003 decision by the United States and Britain to invade Iraq. But the roots of our present disorder can be traced to that disastrous and foolhardy war of choice.
April 2023, Volume 34, Issue 2
Iraq’s Struggle for Democracy
- Marsin Alshamary
Iraq today is more of a democracy than most people think, but still less of a democracy than it could be. While its future is uncertain, one thing is not: It will be determined by Iraqis.
January 2023, Volume 34, Issue 1
Italy’s Hard Truths
- Erik Jones
The government of Giorgia Meloni, the country’s first female prime minister, is popular, scary, and competent. Her far-right party also enjoys greater democratic legitimacy than any other Italian party in a long time.
January 2023, Volume 34, Issue 1
The Shadow of the Swedish Right
- Bo Rothstein
The rising, far-right Sweden Democrats keep doing better in Swedish elections. They are now the country’s second-largest party, and their influence on Swedish political life has never been greater.
January 2023, Volume 34, Issue 1
Why Europe’s Right Embraces Gay Rights
- Gabriele Magni
- Andrew Reynolds
After long condemning gay rights, much of Europe’s political right now champions them. They have made welcoming gay voters a sign of modernity and openness—and a tool for stirring opposition to Muslim immigrants.
January 2023, Volume 34, Issue 1
What Indonesian Democracy Can Teach the World
- Dan Slater
Indonesia is a leading example for fledgling democracies navigating tough transitions. But it is imperiled, and if it gives way, the loss for the democratic world will be enormous.
January 2023, Volume 34, Issue 1
Lula’s Second Act
- Wendy Hunter
- Timothy J. Power
Brazil’s charismatic former president is back, but there will be no honeymoon for the left. He won by a sliver, and his opponents on the right were empowered by the same election.
January 2023, Volume 34, Issue 1
Chile’s Constitutional Chaos
- Jennifer M. Piscopo
- Peter M. Siavelis
After two votes and a yearlong drafting process, Chileans rejected the progressive charter they had claimed to want. Right-wing attacks and voter anxiety are to blame. But can Chileans get it right?
January 2023, Volume 34, Issue 1
Why Latin America’s Democracies Are Stuck
- Scott Mainwaring
- Aníbal Pérez-Liñán
This is the toughest time for Latin America’s democracies in decades. Democratic stagnation makes them ripe targets for illiberal populists and other would-be authoritarians who will feed the region’s worst vices.
October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
Ukraine and Russia: War and Political Regimes
- Timothy J. Colton
Will Russia’s war tip the Kremlin even further toward tyranny while fortifying Ukraine’s democracy? That will depend on Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky as much as on the course of the war itself.
October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
Local Politics and Democratic State-Building
- Roger B. Myerson
Future state-building missions must learn from the failure of past U.S. interventions: It is critical to work with local power-brokers rather than relying on a centralized state.
October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
The Myth of the Coup Contagion
- Naunihal Singh
Many fear that coups are making a comeback. While this is not true, one thing is alarming: Anti-coup norms are starting to erode.
October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
Latin America’s Abortion Rights Breakthrough
- Omar G. Encarnación
A recent wave of wins for abortion rights—the “green tide” in Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia—owes its success to framing the issue as a matter of human rights.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Why Putin Must Be Defeated
- Andrei Kozyrev
The more determined democracies are to avoid war, the greater the risk that autocracies will wage it.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Putin’s Inevitable Invasion
- Ivan Gomza
Why did Russia invade Ukraine? And why are Russian forces fighting so poorly? The internal logic of its personalist dictatorship is to blame.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Do Russians Support Putin?
- Greg Yudin
More than window dressing, public-opinion surveys and elections provide a crucial insight into the Russian people’s relationship with their regime.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
How Putin’s War in Ukraine Has Ruined Russia
- Kathryn Stoner
The first two months of the war alone turned the Russian clock back decades, undoing thirty years of post-Soviet economic gains and reducing the country to an international pariah state.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
The Return of the Marcos Dynasty
- Richard Javad Heydarian
A half-century after his father declared martial law and made himself a dictator, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been elected president of the Philippines by a stunning majority. There is little stopping him from dismantling what remains of the country’s democracy.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
How Resilient Is the CCP?
- Yuen Yuen Ang
Xi Jinping undercut China’s political norms to cement his own power and brand of rule. But in so doing the “Chairman of Everything” has introduced new vulnerabilities for the regime.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Combating Beijing’s Sharp Power: Taiwan’s Democracy Under Fire
- Ketty W. Chen
No state on the planet is more heavily targeted by authoritarians’ information warfare than the Republic of China on Taiwan. And no other state and free society are better at resisting the daily onslaught.
