Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law is housed in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Democracy
Recent Scholarly Publications
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Liberalism and Its Discontents
A short book about the challenges to liberalism from the right and the left by the bestselling author of The Origins of Political Order.
Democracy's Arc: From Resurgent to Imperiled
In his final essay as co-editor of the Journal of Democracy, Larry Diamond calls this moment the darkest for freedom in a half-century. Whether democracy regains its footing will depend...
Transition Arrested
Nate Grubman shows how the repeated failures of Tunisia’s once-promising democratic transition created a crisis ripe for exploitation by a populist outsider
How Voters Respond to Presidential Assaults on Checks and Balances: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Turkey
Why do voters support executive aggrandizement?
Towards a unified approach to research on democratic backsliding
A growing literature examines democratic backsliding, but there is little consensus on when, where, and why it occurs.
Reassessing American Democracy: The Enduring Challenge of Racial Exclusion
June 2020
American democracy is in trouble.
What Would a Second Trump Term Do to the Federal Bureaucracy?
April 2020
American public service is under grave threat.
PROTECTING ELECTORAL INTEGRITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE
January 2020
Democratic consolidation around the world currently faces major challenges.
30 Years of World Politics: What Has Changed?
January 2020
Since the publication of the Journal of Democracy began in 1990, the political climate has shifted from one of democratic gains and optimism to what Larry Diamond labels a “democratic recession.”...
Breaking Out of the Democratic Slump
January 2020
Since 2006, democracy in the world has been trending downward.
The Road to Digital Unfreedom: The Threat of Postmodern Totalitarianism
December 2019
Once hailed as a great force for human empowerment and liberation, social media and related digital tools have rapidly come to be regarded as a major threat to democratic stability and human...
Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency
From America’s leading scholar of democracy, a personal, passionate call to action against the rising authoritarianism that challenges our world order—and the very value of liberty.
Comparing America: Reflections on Democracy across Subfields
September 2019
Is America in a period of democratic decline?
The Populist Surge
February 2018
Trumpist populism could easily linger longer than most people readily assume.
The Meaning and Limits of Freedom of Expression in Lebanon: Publications Court Jurisprudence on Freedom of Expression vs. Defamation
November 2016
AbstractIn light of the legal issues raised by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) trial (April to June 2015) against the Lebanese Al-Jadeed television on charges of contempt of court and...
"Political Logic of Poverty Relief" Electoral Strategies and Social Policy in Mexico
October 2016
Poverty relief programs are shaped by politics.
Authoritarianism Goes Global: The Challenge to Democracy
April 2016
About the BookOver the past decade, illiberal powers have become emboldened and gained influence within the global arena.
Repression and Foreign Aid in Autocracies: Exploiting Debt Relief Negotiations in Post-Cold War Africa
February 2016
AbstractDoes dependence on development aid from Western sources constrain the use of repression among autocrats?
Taiwan's Democracy Challenged: The Chen Shui-bian Years
December 2015
At the end of Chen Shui-bian’s two terms as the president of Taiwan, his tenure was widely viewed as a disappointment, if not an outright failure.
People
Michael A. McFaul Director, Senior Fellow Professor, Political Science, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution 
Francis Fukuyama Senior Fellow Director, Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy, Professor, by courtesy, Political Science 
Didi Kuo Senior Research Scholar, CDDRL, Associate Director for Research, CDDRL Academic Research & Program Manager, American Democracy in Comparative Perspective