Literary Hub

7 min read

As a child, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson recalled in a speech that he was the one in his family who wanted to read all the books in the house, who wore out his library card and kept books way past their due date. He dropped out

The Christian Science Monitor

3 min read

The answer among citizens, among the governed, seems to be changing dramatically, at least in places feeling the worst effects of the virus.

Guardian Weekly

2 min read

Implicit in western support for pro-democracy movements and transitions around the world is an assumption that, given a free choice, a system of elected, representative government is what people will prefer. But what if a majority believes democracy

NPR

1 min read

Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat studies authoritarian regimes, like Italy under Mussolini. Can a democracy pry itself out of a strongman's grip? 

The Atlantic

4 min read

The president attempted to respond to protests with shows of force, and revealed his weakness in the process.

Global Voices

3 min read

The Unfreedom Monitor is a research initiative that examines the growing phenomenon of networked or digital authoritarianism. The initial report highlights the underlying factors that lead to its spread.

India Today

1 min read

What does it really mean? A love for your country, your nation, your homeland? At the risk of getting all tukde-tukde about it, we can't really talk about patriotism without splitting a few hairs. We asked a clutch of eminent citizens the question, a

Guardian Weekly

2 min read

Joe Biden’s foreign policy doctrine views the future relationship between democracies and authoritarian regimes as a competitive one, accompanied by a battle of narratives. Nondemocratic regimes have become brazen in their repression and many democra

The Christian Science Monitor

5 min read

Farmers in India, voters in Honduras and Gambia, even protesters in communist Cuba – what they have in common is some recent victory secured through the exercise of rights guaranteed in democratic governance. As President Joe Biden hosts more than 10

The Atlantic

5 min read

This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here. This article has been adapted from the introduction to The Folio Socie

The Christian Science Monitor

3 min read

Globally, threats to democracy are acting in full force. But pushback against autocracy is also gaining strength and momentum. A look at some of those movements.

The Atlantic

3 min read

To succeed in the long run, libertarians must think harder about people who are uncomfortable with difference, diversity, and dynamism.

The Christian Science Monitor

1 min read

These documentaries, two of which were shortlisted for an Oscar, consider forgiveness, voting rights, and the economy.

The Atlantic

4 min read

The argument that authoritarian governments outperform democracies in a crisis has found new life during the coronavirus pandemic. The data tell a different story.

Los Angeles Times

3 min read

President Joe Biden likes to say that we are locked in a global battle pitting democracy against autocracy. In Seattle last week, he described a phone conversation he'd had with Xi Jinping in which the Chinese leader argued that democracy doesn't wor

The Independent

5 min read

The secretary-general of the United Nations opened the most recent annual meeting of Earth’s leaders with a bleak assessment of the planet’s state of affairs. Humanity, he said, faced “a moment of truth.” “Peace. Human rights. Dignity for all. Equali

The Atlantic

4 min read

What is democracy for? This might seem like an obvious question. Yet disagreements over democracy’s ends are multiplying in the West, including in the oldest, most advanced democracies. Those disagreements include the question of whether democracy is

Reason

3 min read

NATIONALISTS TO THE right of us and progressives to the left of us sneer at the idea that people should be left alone to do their own thing. It can be a little demoralizing. But another year dawns, and with it comes the opportunity for a fresh take o

The Christian Science Monitor

3 min read

In the fight against the world’s authoritarians, U.S. President Joe Biden wants help from democratic allies. But not all those allies are fully on board with his vision. A recent poll asked voters in 20 democracies to choose between forming alliances

Union of Concerned Scientists

3 min read

As the country continues to process the violent attack on the Capitol, and restrictions on voting rights gain strength across state legislatures, we must take account of the role and responsibility that scientists play in securing our freedoms and pr

Beijing Review

4 min read

Democracy has long been accepted as a sacrosanct value of humanity. However, in the practice of democracy, it is the essence and intent of this value that matters. Its form and format could never be the same across the world as it has to come under t

Mother Jones

7 min read

On November 3, 76 million Americans said no to Donald Trump and his effort to steer American democracy toward autocracy. As a candidate and as president, Trump had prompted concerns about the fate of democracy within the United States. He had questio

Los Angeles Times

4 min read

As scholars who study the death of democracies around the globe, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt saw Donald Trump's rise to power as an alarming sign of dangerous times ahead for the United States. The two professors of government at Harvard Unive

The Christian Science Monitor

5 min read

How patriotism has evolved as a watchword on the right, and has been co-opted by extremists, is a window into political speech in a polarized nation.

Literary Hub

4 min read

The coronavirus pandemic is dramatically disrupting not only our daily lives but society itself. This show features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the deeper economic, political, and technological consequenc

The Atlantic

2 min read

This week, our staff writer Adam Serwer takes a closer look at corporations taking political stands.

The Atlantic

3 min read

The House Intelligence Committee’s first hearing will focus on the rise of authoritarianism and the threat to liberal democracy around the world.

Presidential Actions

2 min read

CAPTIVE NATIONS WEEK, 2017   - - - - - - -   BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA   A PROCLAMATION During Captive Nations Week, we stand in solidarity with those living under repressive regimes, and we commit to promoting our Amer

The Christian Science Monitor

3 min read

Behavior by federal paramilitary troops in Portland, Oregon, raises questions about the rule of law that are echoed elsewhere in the world.

The Atlantic

4 min read

If properly understood and marshaled, they “can be a liberal democracy's strongest bulwark against the dangers posed by intolerant social movements.”