After almost twenty years of democratic decline, in 2023, liberal democracy in Latin America appeared to be regaining strength. But has it managed to sustain the trend? Tim Pires Alves assesses whether recent developments heralded a new global wave of democratisation, or whether we merely glimpsed the calm before an even harsher autocratic storm
In a time of anthropogenic existential crises, writes Ioannis Rigkos-Zitthen, this new stage in the Science of Democracy conversation highlights how plural thinking can help rejuvenate democracy
With missiles in the sky and malware in the wires, hybrid warfare is no longer speculative. Daphna Canetti, Gal Dor, and Tal Mimran argue the Iran-Israel clash marks a strategic turning point — where democracies must defend minds as fiercely as borders
Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of state and the second-longest ruling leader in Africa, ran for a record eighth term earlier this month. John Chin and Julien Derroitte assess Cameroon’s prospects for peace and democracy in Africa’s turbulent coup belt
Lucas Sudbrack and James F. Downes describe how growing income inequality across Europe has strengthened support for far-right parties. Using decades of national and individual-level data, they find that when the poorest citizens lose a significant share of national income, far-right vote shares rise
Despite widespread political inertia in responding to the climate crisis, youth climate activists are reshaping politics. Turkan Firinci Orman argues that by embodying Hannah Arendt’s ideas of freedom and action, they are transforming utopias from rigid blueprints into living practices of collective possibility
Do we need a paradigm shift in democracy research? Simon Bein broadens the current western-led perspective on searching for, and researching, democracies. Nevertheless, he warns, theorists should avoid making it more difficult to undertake comparative analyses of democratic systems
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has transformed how often EU leaders talk about enlargement, but not how they frame it. Nicole Scicluna shows that despite geopolitical urgency and family rhetoric, enlargement remains overwhelmingly cast as a conditional, merit-based process
Albania has appointed an AI minister for public procurement. But Vera Tika argues that while 'Diella' embodies gendered symbolism and digital modernity, her appointment exposes a gap between European aspiration and democratic accountability
The 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, gives African states an opportunity to turn lofty disarmament pledges into real action. Kudakwashe Mapako argues that reflecting on past efforts and taking advantage of unity, minerals, and norms allows these states to press for irreversible nuclear disarmament
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