Despite the fact that only 38% of Americans say they think the Democratic and Republican parties are doing ‘an adequate job,’ they’re unlikely to disappear.
President Trump’s impeachment defense that the will of the president is no different from the will of the state and the good of the people has echoes in the decline of ancient Rome’s democracy.
The Roman senate declined from a long-held position of authority under the Roman Republic to become almost wholly reliant on the whims of a given emperor, writes a classics scholar.
When an elected leader turns autocratic, the economy tends to suffer. That’s because, in a functioning democracy, economic policy is made jointly, with lawmakers playing a key role.
Chinese official media casts President Xi Jinping as an anti-corruption crusader; critics say he’s authoritarian. The reality is that he is a man of contrasts whose traits are difficult to pin down.
Recent elections in Latin America have suggested a retreat from left-wing politics and populist leaders. But results from Ecuador’s 2017 presidential election suggest otherwise.
In the wake of the Arab Spring the international community lauded Tunisia’s political transition to democracy. But a plethora of challenges may threaten democratic consolidation in the country.
South Africa has never reached an embedded democratic state. Its post-apartheid experience more realistically reflects ongoing oscillation between a deepening and a reversal of democratic liberties.