July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
How Viktor Orbán Wins
The case of Hungary shows how autocrats can rig elections legally, using legislative majorities to change the law and neutralize the opposition at every turn, no matter what strategy they adopt.
More Complimentary Reads
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
How Zelensky Has Changed Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky is far more than a brave wartime leader. He began changing the tenor and direction of Ukrainian politics long before the people made him their president.
January 2022, Volume 33, Issue 1
The Collapse of Afghanistan
The Afghan republic’s destruction was sewn into its founding. The international community’s missteps are more responsible for its failure than the country’s supposedly endemic corruption.
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.
Latest Online Exclusives
The Man Who Dared to Change the World (August 2022)
Mikhail Gorbachev risked everything. Neither Russia nor the West could live up to his vision.
By Lilia Shevtsova
Why Pakistan Always Seems on the Brink of Collapse (August 2022)
The military has spent decades trying to impose order on Pakistani politics. It has led to chaos.
By Ahsan I. Butt
Drowning Democracy (August 2022)
Afghanistan taught us that a firehose of unaccountable aid can destroy a country’s democratic future. In Ukraine, we are making the same mistake all over again.
By Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Nataliia Shapoval
In The News
Journal of Democracy Featured in the LA Times
August 2022
The LA Times’ Matt Pearce cites JoD editor Will Dobson and cofounder Larry Diamond in his article on U.S. media’s growing efforts to defend democracy.
A Global Turning Point for Democracy? A Celebration of Larry Diamond
May 2022
Journal coeditors Will Dobson and Tarek Masoud joined former coeditor Larry Diamond for a conversation on the future of democracy. At the event, Diamond was awarded NED’s Democracy Service Medal.
Most Read
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.
Iranians Turn Away from the Islamic Republic
Iran is in the midst of an ideological crisis. Growing numbers of Iranians are rejecting the religious underpinnings of the Supreme Leader’s rule, and turning their backs on the Islamic Republic. The regime’s only response is harsher repression—a response that…
Russia’s Road to Autocracy
Thirty years after the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia is firmly in the grip of an autocrat. Where did Russia’s path go wrong?
SPOTLIGHT
The Ex-Presidents
By Lisa Anderson
Democracy imposes tough demands. In particular, it requires leaders to risk defeat in elections and leave office when they lose. Even two centuries of practice hasn’t made this any easier.
EXPANDED EDITION
Democracy’s Arc: From Resurgent to Imperiled
Larry Diamond
A longer version of his final essay as Journal of Democracy coeditor.
Our October 2021 issue, featuring “Russia’s Road to Autocracy” by Michael McFaul, is now available free of charge.