April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Argentina made headlines around the world last December as its presidency changed hands no fewer than four times in less than two weeks. Lost amid the chaos, however, were hopeful signs that the country has now turned the corner of democratic consolidation.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
The effects of electoral systems and of federalism are usually examined separately, but a review of the leading federations shows that it is essential to consider the interaction between the two in designing democratic institutions.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Italy has long mixed great local and regional diversity with a unitary approach to governance. In October 2001, however, Italian voters approved a series of changes to their country’s Constitution that could mark a decisive turn toward federalism.
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Last year, Bulgarians elected their newly returned former king as prime minister and then, in a shocking upset, ousted their incumbent president. What do these results portend for the future of Bulgarian democracy?
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Political scientists have long theorized that the use of “preferential” election systems can help promote successful conflict management in divided societies. As it turns out, evidence from five real-world cases supports this conclusion.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
Recent parliamentary elections showed the continuing strengths and weaknesses of Bangladeshi democracy. Although the country does have strong political parties and a decade of democratic elections, the intense antipathy between government and opposition will continue to cause problems well into the future.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
Irresponsible leadership and ill-designed institutions have made this island republic prey to a bitter and violent ethnic conflict that is threatening to undermine democracy itself.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
How can Burma peacefully move away from military rule and toward a stable democratic system based on sound electoral and federal arrangements?
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Israel began directly electing its prime minister in 1992, only to abandon this change less than ten years later. What came between was a series of hard lessons in the unintended consequences or reform.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
In Peru in 2000, the OAS made an unprecedented diplomatic intervention in a member state. Could this be a model for the future?
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Although the OAS helped, sudden public revelations of corruption in Peru were more important.
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Direct democracy has come in for praise as being closer to the people’s will than representative democracy. A closer look at the sources of public support, however, reveals some surprises.
July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3
The Editors’ introduction to “Francophone Africa in Flux.”
July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3
The 1990s began with an unprecedented democratic opening in Francophone Africa. While a number of countries have suffered setbacks and even reversals, others continue to make progress, and popular aspirations for democracy remain strong.
July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3
In 2000, Senegal experienced its first-ever electoral victory by an opposition candidate. Yet the social foundations that have supported one of Africa’s most liberal regimes are shifting, with unpredictable consequences.
July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3
Contrary to the widespread perception that Mauritania has moved toward democracy, this troubled country faces continued ethnic tensions and the prospect of increasing repression.
July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3
The elections of 2000 reflected the profound disillusionment of the Romanian electorate with the performance of the centrist government of the past four years, rather than a turn away from democracy itself.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
The mass demonstrations that ousted President Joseph Estrada recalled those that had brought down dictator Ferdinand Marcos 15 years earlier. Yet the return of “People Power” raises some concerns about the health of Filipino democracy.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
With longtime ruler Jerry Rawlings obeying constitutional term limits, the opposition won a narrow electoral victory, bringing Ghana its first peaceful transfer of power since independence.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
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.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
The Editors’ introduction to “Revisiting Florida 2000.”
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
Read the full essay here.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
Read the full essay here.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
Read the full essay here.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
Read the full essay here.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
The astonishing electoral victories by opposition presidential candidates in Korea, Taiwan, and Mexico all followed a remarkably similar pattern, but it is one that may lead to difficulties for democratic consolidation.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
While many of the world’s pseudodemocracies have lately made the transition to “unadulterated” democracy, Malaysia and its leader, Mahathir Mohamad, have successfully bucked this trend.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
Malapportionment poses a serious, yet hitherto neglected, challenge to the quality and fairness of democracy in many Latin American countries.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
The stunning defeat of a draft constitution backed by President Robert Mugabe and the opposition’s unexpectedly strong showing in the June 2000 parliamentary elections may have marked the beginning of the end of ruling-party hegemony in Zimbabwe.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Vicente Fox’s victory in Mexico’s July 2000 presidential election revealed the fundamental changes that had been taking place under the veil of governmental continuity.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
The beauty of Mexico’s transition to democracy lay in the way it evolved gradually and peacefully over the course of a decade.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Although Fox’s National Action Party (PAN) is frequently portrayed as a reactionary party, it is better understood as a liberal-democratic alternative to the former ruling party’s authoritarianism.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Any serious discussion of Mexico’s future must take into account its relations with the United States.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Are all, or only some, of the world’s religious systems politically compatible with democracy?
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
The Editors’ introduction to “Is Iran Democratizing?”
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
In hotly contested parliamentary elections, candidates supportive of President Khatami’s reforms won an overwhelming victory.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Once again, a reformist electoral victory has been followed by political setbacks. The key to understanding this paradoxical pattern lies in the unique theocratic constitutional structure of the Islamic Republic.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Four excerpts from the Iranian press-on elections and democracy and on religious intolerance and intellectual pluralism-suggest the extent to which democratic thinking has gained a foothold in Iran.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
A nongovernmental organization, Citizens Organized to Monitor Voting (GONG), helped ensure the transparency of Croatia’s recent elections.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
A review of Jack Snyder's From Voting to Violence.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Does the election of Vladimir Putin as Russia’s president represent a fundamental turn away from democracy or merely a temporary setback? Although Putin’s apparent indifference to democracy is worrisome, it would be premature to conclude that democracy is lost in Russia.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
In recent years several Westminster-style parliamentary democracies have considered cutting their ties with the British monarchy and becoming republics. The difficulties involved in trying to make such a shift were on full display in Australia.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
In The Logic of Japanese Politics, Gerald Curtis portrays the political history of Japan in the 1990s in its full complexity.
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
With Austria’s and Switzerland’s leading political parties having “rigged the political marketplace” by forming Grand Coalitions, voters have turned to the radical right as the only available alternative.
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
The most striking thing about Fernando de la Rua’s presidential victory in Argentina was the routine-even boring-character of the elections. This turn toward normalization is a major break with the past.
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
The unexpectedly strong showing of media-savvy rightist candidate Joaquín Lavín in the 1999 presidential elections and the move to the center by Concertación candidate Ricardo Lagos suggest that Chile has begun to put the ghosts of Allende and Pinochet to rest.
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
Lavín’s strong showing did not represent an “earthquake” or a dramatic change in the electoral landscape. Voting patterns have remained basically unchanged since 1988, giving Lagos a clear mandate to lead Chile into the next millennium.
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
In the November 1999 presidential election, Uruguayans reaffirmed their strong commitment to democracy, while adjusting to a set of constitutional reforms that profoundly altered the electoral system.
April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2
A major question in the consolidation of Eastern Europe’s new democracies is whether women will participate fully in the political process. One key indicator is the representation of women in the region’s parliaments.
January 2000, Volume 11, Issue 1
Read the full essay here.
October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4
Post-apartheid South Africa’s democratic quest resembles a good thriller–just as the plot seems clear, a twist appears in the tale.
July 1999, Volume 10, Issue 3
Read the full essay here.
October 1998, Volume 9, Issue 4
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July 1998, Volume 9, Issue 3
Indians appear to love the practice of democracy so much that they are in danger of overdoing it. In February and March of 1998, the world's largest democracy held its twelfth general election since gaining its independence a half-century ago. The voting was largely fair and peaceful. New, right-of-center rulers led by the Bharatiya Janata…
July 1998, Volume 9, Issue 3
The early 1990s saw a wave of competitive multiparty elections in Africa. These contests can be described as "founding" elections in the sense that they marked for various countries a transition from an extended period of authoritarian rule to fledgling democratic government. By the middle of the 1990s, this wave had crested. Although founding elections…
April 1998, Volume 9, Issue 2
Read the full essay here.
April 1998, Volume 9, Issue 2
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October 1997, Volume 8, Issue 4
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April 1997, Volume 8, Issue 2
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April 1997, Volume 8, Issue 2
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January 1997, Volume 8, Issue 1
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July 1996, Volume 7, Issue 3
Read the full essay here.
April 1996, Volume 7, Issue 2
Read the full essay here.
April 1996, Volume 7, Issue 2
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April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
Read the full essay here.
January 1995, Volume 6, Issue 1
Read the full essay here.
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Read the full essay here.
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Read the full essay here.
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Read the full essay here.
April 1994, Volume 5, Issue 2
Read the full essay here.
April 1994, Volume 5, Issue 2
Read the full essay here.
April 1994, Volume 5, Issue 2
Read the full essay here.
April 1994, Volume 5, Issue 2
Read the full essay here.
April 1994, Volume 5, Issue 2
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