Journal of Democracy October Issue: Authoritarianism Goes Global (II)

The Journal of Democracy October issue features essays on authoritarianism, the aftermath of the Arab Spring, “non-Western democracy,” militarism in Latin America, and the impact of decentralization. 

In “The Rise of the World’s Poorest Countries,” Steven Radelet concludes: “For more than two decades now, the majority of the world’s poorest countries have been making some of the fastest and biggest development gains in history.” Among these impressive gains is the unprecedented number of low-income democracies. Steven Radelet spoke about his essay and forthcoming book at a panel discussion at NED on October 26.

“Authoritarianism Goes Global”

The Journal‘s latest installment in a series of essays on the global resurgence of authoritarianism focuses on two arenas in which authoritarians are increasingly making their influence felt: civil society and the media. First, Anne Applebaum reveals the Bolshevik roots of the Putin regime’s attempts to crush independent civil society. Next, Douglas Rutzen looks at the measures countries around the world are taking to limit the freedom of civil society organizations. The remaining two essays focus on authoritarian initiatives in the field of international media: Peter Pomerantsev shows how the Kremlin, having mastered Russia’s domestic media, is now seeking to sell its depictions of pseudoreality abroad; and Anne-Marie Brady traces China’s use of foreign propaganda to improve its global image and discredit its critics.

“After the Arab Spring”

A group of articles, including an introductory essay by Michele Dunne, takes stock of developments in the Middle East and North Africa since the wave of uprisings that began in late 2010. The authors focus on such topics as public opinion, voting patterns, secularism versus Islamism, and the role of the media. In “How the Media Trashed the Transitions,” Marc Lynch explores how the media drove the insurrections but also contributed to their inability to produce lasting democratic institutions.

About the Journal of Democracy

For more than 25 years, the Journal of Democracy has been a leading voice in the conversation about government by consent and its place in the world. The Journal is published for the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy by the Johns Hopkins University Press and full access is available to subscribers through Project MUSE.

 

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