Kei Nishiyama
Teaching democracy is hard work, precisely because we are living in a time when democracy is in crisis. So what should we teach, and how? Kei Nishiyama suggests that a grassroots, bottom-up approach involving teachers and learners alike will help us gain ownership of democracy – and fall back in love with it Teaching democracy […] Read more
Jean-Paul Gagnon
For centuries democracy has had many meanings. But they have not been collected and studied as a whole. This leaves us, Jean-Paul Gagnon argues, with only a partial knowledge of democracy. It's one that limits our options for democratisation in an increasingly authoritarian world Read more
Carl Henrik Knutsen
Even today, there is no consensus on whether democracies or autocracies are better at generating economic development. Yet, writes Carl Henrik Knutsen, the best recent evidence indicates that democracies do, on average, promote higher growth Read more
Sabine Volk
Actors from across the political spectrum, including the populist far right, have voiced concerns about safeguarding democracy amid the coronacrisis, writes Sabine Volk. But their different understandings of democracy reveal Germany’s political polarisation, rather than its unity Read more
James F. Downes
To guard against vote loss, parties of the centre right are taking a tough stance on immigration. James F. Downes, Matthew Loveless and Andrew Lam argue that such parties risk bringing far-right ideology into the political mainstream, and undermining the very tenets of liberal democracy they profess to uphold Read more
Kristian Vrede Skaaning Frederiksen
Citizens of young democracies sanction governments for violating democratic principles. However, as Kristian Vrede Skaaning Frederiksen finds, in new research based on data from 43 countries, citizens of old democracies do not. Given recent attacks on democracy across the world, the insights are important for policymakers as well as citizens Read more
Stefano Braghiroli
The EU has activated a Covid recovery package worth a staggering €672.5 billion. Observers focus on the role of European capitals, inter-governmental institutions, and the European Commission's coordinating role in delivering it. Yet, argues Stefano Braghiroli, we shouldn't ignore the role of the European Parliament... Read more
Jun Koga Sudduth
Does the creation of nominally democratic institutions help dictators stay in power by reducing the risk of coups d’etat? Jun Koga Sudduth analyses and categorises different types of coup, and their effects. In so doing, she confounds the conventional wisdom that democratic institutions reduce the likelihood of dictators being overthrown Read more
