The pressing challenges that, from Latin America to East Asia, are shaping the balance between democracy and authoritarianism is the focus of the just-released July 2020 issue of the NED’s Journal of Democracy (accessible free of charge at Project MUSE through August 15).
- Looking ahead: Coeditor William J. Dobson considers the outlook for democracies in a time of global crisis and surging illiberalism.
- Digital disruption:
- Nic Cheeseman, Jonathan Fisher, Idayat Hassan, and Jamie Hitchen analyze how WhatsApp is helping and hurting democracy in Nigeria; and
- Noam Lupu, Mariana V. Ramírez Bustamante, and Elizabeth J. Zechmeister explore how social media and misinformation’s spread are changing political attitudes in Latin America.
- Liberal democracy and its weaknesses: William A. Galston examines the charges against liberal democracy and weighs the prospects for navigating its future.
- Perception management: Nadège Rolland scrutinizes China’s aggressive messaging in the age of covid-19.
- Authoritarian survival:
- Misagh Parsa looks at the repressive tactics that have kept Iran’s theocracy in power;
- Javier Corrales analyzes Maduro’s new tactic for hanging on.
The future of protest: Erica Chenoweth asks why civil-resistance movements have been succeeding less often—and how the pandemic might save them.
Plus….
- Kharis Templeman reveals how Taiwan stood up to Beijing’s influence operations during the 2020 election campaign;
- Fabrice Lehoucq retraces the chain of events leading to the fall of Bolivia’s President Evo Morales;
- Gi-Wook Shin argues that zero-sum politics is producing a little-noticed case of democratic erosion in South Korea;
- Marlene Laruelle explains why we should see Russia’s promotion of illiberalism as more than just a political ploy; and
- Is MBS a modernizer? Tarek Masoud reviews Ben Hubbard’s new book on Saudi Arabia’s crown prince.
