The world is facing heightened polarization, nationalism, repression, and political violence. Russia and other autocracies are on the offensive, and the consequences are being felt everywhere.
The Journal of Democracy strives to keep you up to date on the latest developments in global democracy and autocracy. Here are our ten most-read essays over the past month.
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.
Rachel KleinfeldWhy India’s Democracy Is Dying
Under Narendra Modi, India is maintaining the trappings of democracy while it increasingly harasses the opposition, attacks minorities, and stifles dissent. It can still reverse course, but the damage is mounting.
Maya TudorWhat Putin Fears Most
Forget his excuses. Russia’s autocrat doesn’t worry about NATO. What terrifies him is the prospect of a flourishing Ukrainian democracy.
Robert Person and Michael McFaulHow 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.
Kim Lane ScheppeleHow AI Threatens Democracy
Generative AI can flood the media, internet, and even personal correspondence with misinformation—sowing confusion for voters and government officials alike. If we fail to act, mounting mistrust will polarize our societies and tear at our institutions.
Sarah Kreps and Doug KrinerMisunderstanding Democratic Backsliding
If democracies did a better job “delivering” for their citizens, so the thinking goes, people would not be so ready to embrace antidemocratic alternatives. Not so. This conventional wisdom about democratic backsliding is seldom true and often not accurate at all.
Thomas Carothers and Brendan HartnettOn Democratic Backsliding
Old-fashioned military coups and blatant election-day fraud are becoming mercifully rarer these days, but other, subtler forms of democratic regression are a growing problem that demands more attention.
Nancy BermeoDemocracy as a Universal Value
The recognition of democracy as a universally relevant system is a major revolution in thinking, and one of the main contributions of the twentieth century. While not yet universally practiced, democracy is now being taken as generally right.
Amartya Kumar SenWho Decides What Is Democratic
The “crisis” of democracy is a crisis of representation. New parties, some of which are populist in troublingly illiberal ways, are arising from this moment. The danger that they pose is not that they are antidemocratic, but that they are antiliberal.
Adam PrzeworskiWhy National Identity Matters
From enhancing physical security to encouraging mutual trust, an inclusive sense of national identity continues to be crucial to the flourishing of modern states.
Francis Fukuyama
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