Volume 37, Issue 2
Artificial intelligence is often seen as a silver bullet for authoritarians, a breakthrough technology making repression cheaper, faster, and more precise. But it has inherent weaknesses, and dictators canât escape these dilemmas.
The worldâs âmiddle powersâ were once bastions of defense for a liberal rules-based international order. But no more. A new kind of authoritarian middle power has emerged, undermining democratic norms and safeguards.
Democracyâs present difficulties were predictable. History and older theories of democratic stability should have prepared us for both democratic backsliding and the vulnerability of Western democracy we are experiencing today.
Today, the principal challenge to democracy is coming not from coups but from democratic erosion driven by elected leaders. What is behind this shift, and how can prodemocracy forces push back?
The judiciary is widely assumed to defend democracy. Yet in reality, even when independent of elected governments, courts can endanger democracyâsometimes by enabling executives and sometimes by aggressively fighting them.
Populism is too often treated as if it is all one thing. But what if populist politics and democratic backsliding didnât have to go together? A closer look reveals two kinds of populism, one of which is less threatening to liberal democracy.
Venezuela has a path to democracy, but it requires dismantling the old regime. MarĂa Corina Machado, the countryâs true democratic leader, must signal her credibility as a moderate through a framework of transitional justice. It wonât be perfect justice, but it is Venezuelaâs best hope.
Decentralized governance allows communities to enact policies that reflect their values. But in the digital age, when news spreads far and fast, whatâs happening in one place may inflame citizensâ attitudes thousands of miles away, magnifying political differences and division.
Oppositions resisting autocrats or antidemocratic incumbents could once get help internationally. But the space for democracy promotion has narrowed, while oppositions face divisions within their own ranks over how to best fight back.
Georgian society has long aspired to join the West, but the ruling partyâled by the countryâs richest manâis dragging the country closer to Vladimir Putinâs Russia. Georgians are still resisting, but can they halt their countryâs authoritarian slide?
An opposition party that swept into power with a 2021 electoral win was swept out by voters four years later. It failed to deliver on its promises and was beset by the same authoritarian leanings of those it had replaced.
The military has long had the final say in Pakistani politics. In response to Imran Khanâs populist surge, the military adapted, making use of selective repression and writing its control more deeply into the countryâs institutions.
Over the last half-century, a surprising share of new democracies have put their former dictators, or the children of those dictators, back in power. What explains the electoral success of these âdictocratsâ and âdictobratsâ?
A review of Fateful Hours: The Collapse of the Weimar Republic, by Volker Ullrich.
Ukrainian strength against Russian aggression; an agreement on the path to democracy in Cuba; testimony on behalf of Iranians against the Islamic Republic; and why gender apartheid should be recognized as a crime to protect the women of Afghanistan.
