By Camilo González The Breakdown of the State and Democracy Haiti is going through an accelerated collapse of the state, but also of its democracy. The Haitian State is one of the most fragile states in the world. Its Human Development Index has worsened for two consecutive years. Constantly besieged by climate disasters -the last... Continue Reading →
Naunihal Singh on the Myth of the Coup Contagion
Naunihal Singh is associate professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College and the author of Seizing Power: The Strategic Logic of Military Coups (2014). He recently wrote the article "The Myth of the Coup Contagion" in the Journal of Democracy. Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to... Continue Reading →
How to Resist Democratic Backsliding
Become a Patron! Preorder Laura Gamboa's Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy here. How to Resist Democratic Backsliding Laura Gamboa makes bold claims in a new book on democratic backsliding. The past few years have seen an explosion in the number of books on democratic decline and breakdown. Scholars have already made... Continue Reading →
Kim Lane Scheppele on Hungary, Viktor Orbán, and its Democratic Decline
Kim Lane Scheppele is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. Become a Patron! So, I came back from that trip and said to one of my good friends back in Budapest, ‘I think I've met the most dangerous person I've... Continue Reading →
Power as Revenge and Redemption
Become a Patron! Putin's Revenge of Power As Vladimir Putin rampages his army through Ukraine, observers do not sense the cold calculation of strategic analysis. Instead, it’s impossible to interpret his behavior as anything less than revenge. He wants revenge from the West for the breakup of the Soviet Union. He wants revenge from Ukraine... Continue Reading →
Sarah Repucci from Freedom House with an Update on Freedom in the World
Sarah Repucci is the Vice President of Research and Analysis at Freedom House. She coauthored (along with Amy Slipowitz) Freedom in the World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule. Become a Patron! You can't protect basic human rights if you don't have democracy. If you're going to protect basic human rights, you need to... Continue Reading →
Freedom in the World: An Update
Become a Patron! Freedom in the World The Russian invasion of Ukraine is not an isolated event. Their aggression has broadened in recent years from incursions into Georgia, the annexation of Crimea, and support of separatists in the Donbas region. Yet this historical moment is not simply about Russia and Ukraine. It symbolizes a shift... Continue Reading →
Debasish Roy Chowdhury and John Keane on the Decline of Indian Democracy
Deb Chowdhry is a journalist who has published in Time, South China Morning Post, and Washington Times. John Keane is a Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney. They are the authors of the recent book To Kill a Democracy: India's Passage to Despotism. Become a Patron! You treat votes as equal. My vote is... Continue Reading →
Does Inequality Kill a Democracy?
Become a Patron! Inequality in Democracy It’s not controversial to say democracy is about more than elections. Most scholars recognize democracy depends on liberal rights like free speech and the rights of the accused. Liberal democracy strives to combine civil liberties with political equality. But does democracy also depend on economic equality or at least... Continue Reading →
Sara Wallace Goodman on Citizen Responses to Democratic Threats
Sara Wallace Goodman is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine and the author of Citizenship in Hard Times: How Ordinary People Respond to Democratic Threat. If I could say one thing to every citizen, it's to put country before party. Which is, you know, at this time it... Continue Reading →