……..Serge Schmemann asks in The New York Times: Countries rarely embrace democracy as their first choice; they have often tried monarchies, oligarchies or other forms of coercive government first. They… Read more »
Even under the basic principles of transactional realism, it is not in America’s interests to abandon a commitment to advancing democracy, argues Pippa Norris, a lecturer in comparative politics at… Read more »
Civil society activists have often struggled to make the transition from protest to politics, to effect a shift from social movement to party in power. Illiberal and authoritarian movements –… Read more »
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s concern is not just the Russian media outlets that spread disinformation, says Simon Hegelich, a professor of political science at the Technical University of Munich. It… Read more »
Two prominent Venezuelan opposition leaders were taken from their homes in raids by intelligence services in the early hours of Tuesday, in what analysts say signals a lurch toward a… Read more »
In recent decades, strong economic growth in India has given rise to an enormously wealthy upper class but failed to lift up the masses of the country’s poor. In the… Read more »
While illiberal democracy is certainly worrying, many of its critics fundamentally misunderstand how democracy’s historical relationship with liberalism and how democracy has traditionally developed, notes Sheri Berman, a professor of… Read more »
Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, a prominent dissident since the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, has died after being denied permission to leave the country for treatment for… Read more »
How can democracies combat terrorism without undermining liberal democratic norms and institutions? Following the terrorist attacks in Manchester and London, British Prime Minister Theresa May has proposed restricting internet freedom… Read more »
Australia is reviewing its espionage laws and banning foreign political donations over concerns that China is buying influence by using rich businessmen to funnel millions of dollars in donations… Read more »