January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
The Weight of Geopolitics
Can democracy prosper when democratic countries are in geopolitical retreat? History cautions against the notion that democracy will inevitably prevail.
Subject: Democratic decline
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Crisis and Transition, But Not Decline
Rather than being in decline, democracy is in crisis due to the gap between the democratic ideal and how democracy is actually being practiced. It will survive by transitioning into a new, as yet unknown, form.
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
The Myth of Democratic Recession
In contrast to the conventional wisdom that democracy is in retreat worldwide, the evidence tells a different story: The state of global democracy has been stable over the last decade and is actually better than it was in the 1990s.
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Facing Up to the Democratic Recession
Democracy has been in a global recession for most of the last decade, and committed and resourceful engagement by the established democracies is necessary to reverse this trend.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Flirting with Disaster
A review of The Confidence Trap: A History of Democracy in Crisis from World War I to the Present by David Runciman.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The End of the Transitions Era?
Regime change will always be a feature of political life, but we are unlikely to see again transitions to democracy on the scale of the “third wave.”
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
The Freedom House Survey for 2013: The Democratic Leadership Gap
Civil-liberties scores have notably declined over the past several years, while political-rights scores have slightly improved—perhaps because modern authoritarians have begun to adopt subtler means of repression. Overall, however, freedom experienced a global decline for the eighth straight year in 2013.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Shifting Tides in South Asia: India and Its Neighbors
Home to about a quarter of the world’s people, South Asia presents a murky and not very encouraging picture when it comes to democracy.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Shifting Tides in South Asia: Bangladesh’s Failed Election
After two decades of elections that produced a number of alternations in power, an impasse over “caretaker government” crippled the 2014 contest and has made single-party rule all too real a prospect.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Shifting Tides in South Asia: Sri Lanka’s Postwar Descent
With the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in a 26-year civil war, Sri Lanka had a chance for genuine reconciliation, but that chance is being squandered by the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
October 2013, Volume 24, Issue 4
Separated at Birth?
A review of The Promise of Power: The Origins of Democracy in India and Autocracy in Pakistan by Maya Tudor.
April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2
The Freedom House Survey for 2011: The Year of the Arab Uprisings
Although in 2011 declines in freedom exceeded gains for the sixth straight year, the uprisings in the Arab world represent the most significant challenge to authoritarian rule since the collapse of Soviet communism.
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
Sri Lanka: From Turmoil to Dynasty
Having only recently emerged from a prolonged and remarkably bitter civil war, Sri Lanka is now slipping steadily under the hardening authoritarian control of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family.
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
A Russian Liberal’s Lament
A review of Lonely Power: Why Russia Has Failed to Become the West and the West Is Weary of Russia by Lilia Shevtsova.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
South Asia Faces the Future
The Editors’ introduction to “South Asia Faces the Future.”
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Ten Years After the Soviet Breakup: From Democratization to Guided Democracy
Except for the Baltic states, the countries of the former Soviet Union may be less democratic today than in the last years of the USSR.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Ten Years After the Soviet Breakup: Russia’s Hybrid Regime
In Russia, formally democratic institutions coexist uneasily with the reality of tightly consolidated bureaucratic and executive power.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
High Anxiety in the Andes
The Editors’ introduction to “High Anxiety in the Andes.”
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
High Anxiety in the Andes: The Real Story Behind Venezuela’s Woes
The conventional wisdom about Venezuela’s plight is largely mistaken. Only when Venezuelans recognize the real causes of their woes will they be able to make progress in overcoming them.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
Democratization Falters in Azerbaijan
The November 2000 parliamentary elections, expected to be a step forward for democracy, instead turned into a major setback, casting doubt on the country’s future stability.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
Pakistan’s Predicament
The military regime of General Musharraf has been less repressive than many had feared, but there is little sign that it is overcoming the deep-seated problems that led to the failure of Pakistani democracy.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Is Pakistan the (Reverse) Wave of the Future?
Pakistan’s descent into authoritarian rule starkly depicts the “triple crisis of governance” that threatens many third-wave democracies. If these problems of governance are not addressed, a new “reverse wave” of democratization could be imminent.
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
Trouble in the Advanced Democracies? A Quarter-Century of Declining Confidence
A quarter-century after the classic study The Crisis of Democracy was published, three distinguished political scientists find that, though the “crisis” may have disappeared, public confidence is on the decline in almost all the world’s advanced democracies.
October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4
Southeast Asia After the Crisis: A Tale of Three Countries
Read the full essay here.
July 1999, Volume 10, Issue 3
Latin America’s Imperiled Progress: Fujimori and Post-Party Politics in Peru
Read the full essay here.
April 1999, Volume 10, Issue 2
What Went Wrong in Russia? The Ravages of “Market Bolshevism”
Read the full essay here.
July 1995, Volume 6, Issue 3
Venezuela Falters
A review of Strong Parties and Lame Ducks: Presidential Partyarchy and Factionalism in Venezuela, by Michael Coppedge and Democracy for the Privileged: Crisis and Transition in Venezuela, by Richard S. Hillman.
January 1995, Volume 6, Issue 1
Democracy’s Future: Do Economists Know Best?
Read the full essay here.
April 1994, Volume 5, Issue 2
Is Russian Democracy Doomed? Toward Presidential Rule
Read the full essay here.
April 1994, Volume 5, Issue 2
Is Russian Democracy Doomed? Instability and Fragmentation
Read the full essay here.
April 1994, Volume 5, Issue 2
Is Russian Democracy Doomed? Zhirinovsky’s World
Read the full essay here.
October 1992, Volume 3, Issue 4
The Islamist Challenge: The Failure of Reform in Tunisia
Read the full essay here.
What Happened to South Korea’s Democracy?
The quick reversal of President Yoon’s martial-law order is being celebrated as a democratic victory. But the problems run deeper than one man. What comes next?
Why Philippine Politics Resembles a Modern-Day Telenovela
Want to distract the public? Little works better than family feuds ripped from soap opera plotlines. That’s how the Marcos and Duterte clans keep people glued to the drama while crowding out democratic reform.
Global Freedom Is in Decline, But What About Democracy?
Democracy is more resilient than many people realize, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t worrying signs on the horizon.
Is Central America Doomed?
Of course not. But the region’s democratic hopes are fighting an uphill battle against corruption, crime, and a violent past.
Why Indonesia’s Democracy Is in Danger
Indonesian voters have made Prabowo Subianto, a special-forces commander with a dark past, their next president. Even as voters flocked to the polls, his election is a harbinger of democracy’s decline.
The Demise of Senegalese Democracy
President Macky Sall has called off his country’s presidential election just weeks ahead of the vote. His unconstitutional decree will not only keep him in power, but threatens to throw Senegal into violent chaos.
Why Ukraine Is Critical to Rebuilding Our Democratic Consensus
The case for liberal democracy remains powerful. It may get its biggest boost in the near term from success on the battlefields of Ukraine.
Ecuador’s Democratic Breakdown
The small Latin American country was a brief democratic bright spot. But it appears to have fallen victim to a clash between populists and anti-populists, without a democrat in sight.
Democracy’s Arc: From Resurgent to Imperiled (Expanded Edition)
This is the darkest moment for freedom in half a century. Whether democracy regains its footing will depend on how democratic leaders and citizens respond to emboldened authoritarians and the fissures within their own societies.
The Signs of Democratic Deconsolidation
In many parts of the world, democracy seems to be under threat. Populism is on the rise, as is public dissatisfaction with such key features of liberal democracy as political parties, representative institutions, and minority rights. Even in the long-established democratic regimes of Western Europe and the United States, attachment to democracy is weakening, particularly…
January 10, 2017
Democracy in Decline?
For almost a decade, Freedom House’s annual survey has highlighted a decline in democracy in most regions of the globe. Some analysts say this shows that the world has entered a "democratic recession." Others dispute that interpretation, emphasizing democracy’s success in maintaining the huge gains it made during the last quarter of the twentieth century.