October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
How to Compete in Unfair Elections
Opposition movements often boycott rigged polls rather than risk legitimizing an autocrat. It is usually a mistake. Here is the playbook for how one opposition seized the advantage.
More Complimentary Reads
October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
Debate: Why Democracies Survive
Democracies are under stress, but they are not about to buckle. The erosion of norms and other woes do not spell democratic collapse. With incredibly few exceptions, affluent democracies will endure, no matter the schemes of would-be autocrats.
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
China: Totalitarianism’s Long Shadow
China’s fast economic rise has not dented its dictatorship, but Xi Jinping’s neo-Stalinist strategy has unleashed new challenges and tensions for the Communist Party’s long-term prospects for survival.
April 2022, Volume 33, Issue 2
How Autocrats Weaponize Women’s Rights
Why are authoritarian regimes championing gender equality? Modern dictators want to appear progressive, liberal, and democratic, while distracting from their worst abuses.
Latest Online Exclusives
Why Sanctions Don’t Work Against Dictatorships (November 2022)
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?
By Agathe Demarais
Why TikTok Is a Threat to Demococracy (November 2022)
The popular Chinese-owned app is enabling Beijing to collect data on people nearly everywhere. Not only can such platforms track people’s preferences and whereabouts, but they give the Chinese government control over a powerful tool for shaping people’s worldview.
By Aynne Kokas
For Xi Jinping, the Economy Is No Longer the Priority (October 2022)
Beijing’s focus has been on strong and steady economic growth for decades. But China’s leader has just put an end to that era. For Xi, it’s only about power—at home and abroad.
By Guoguong Wu
In The News
How Qatar Is Using the World Cup to Clean Up Its Image
November 2022
The 2022 World Cup has just kicked off in Qatar. Long before the first match, the small Arab monarchy made a bet that investing billions in the “beautiful game” might do wonders for their reputation, too.
Michael Ignatieff on the Democracy Paradox Podcast
November 2022
Host Justin Kempf interviews Michael Ignatieff, author of “The Politics of Enemies,” on the contentious nature of democratic politics—and what happens when the tension grows too great.
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.
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?
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.
SPOTLIGHT
Debate: The Future of Platform Power
Featuring Robert Faris & Joan Donovan, Nathalie Maréchal, Dipayan Ghosh & Ramesh Srinivasan, Daphne Keller, and Francis Fukuyama
Experts debate Francis Fukuyama’s solution to making Big Tech work for democracy.
EXPANDED EDITION
Democracy’s Arc: From Resurgent to Imperiled
Larry Diamond
A longer version of his final essay as Journal of Democracy coeditor.
Our April 2022 issue, featuring “How Autocrats Weaponize Women’s Rights” by Elin Bjarnegård and Pär Zetterberg, is now available free of charge.