
Constitutional Democracy’s Civic and Social Dimensions. On the Czech Presidential Election
Jiří Přibáň comments the outcome of the recent presidential elections in the Czech Republic.

It’s Time to Imagine a Future for Burma without Armed Forces
In this op-ed, authors Thiha Wint Aung and Htet Min Lwin argue for the abolition of the armed forces in Burma.

5 Key 2022 Books: Democracy in Literature
Kasia Krzyżanowska, RevDem editor of the Review of Books section at the Review of Democracy, presents five key books in democracy in literature in 2022.

Asking the wrong questions, the wrong way: Why replicating “national consultations” is an inadequate response to their success
Although national referenda have become a rare species in post-2010 Hungary, the use of another instrument of plebiscitarian democracy—non-binding informal polls called national consultations—has not only been serving as a legitimization tool of government policies, but it has also been adopted by an opposition movement as a mobilization technique. This article argues that the strategic…

Westernization by Preemptive Rejection: How Viktor Orbán Sells to U.S. Conservatives Their Own Obsessions
In this op-ed, Ferenc Laczó explores how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s regime “has been succeeding to a remarkable degree at translating key aspects of Hungarian ethnic nationalism into a wider panic about the future of Western civilization.”

Belated Retribution: Polish Lustration After 2015
The transitional justice measures introduced by PiS are not only at odds both with the Polish Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, but are also a worrying sign of a departure from the model of inclusive democracy.

“Vacanze Romane” for the EU’s Values Crisis?
In his latest op-ed, RevDem editor Oliver Garner analyzes the Italian election results and their implications not only for Italy, but also for the European Union.

A turning point of democracy?
To mark the International Day of Democracy, we present an op-ed by Wolfgang Merkel examining the state of democracy around the world.

Change of framing and the need for peace in Ukraine: A reply to Szulecki and Wig
Responding to critiques of their op-ed on why the war in Ukraine should not be discussed using the “democracy vs. autocracy” framework, authors Irina Domurath and Stefano Palestini further develop why orienting the discussion around Russia’s abuse of international law could draw more international support and avoid escalation into a Third World War.

Citizens’ Assemblies and the International Response on Climate Displacement
In this op-ed, Magdalena Smieszek explains how citizens’ assemblies on the national level promote inclusive discourse because of their bottom-up approach; the variety of transnational and global citizens’ assemblies focused on climate change; and what impact these assemblies might have on climate change action.

The war in Ukraine is all about democracy vs dictatorship
A dictatorship has just brutally attacked its democratic neighbor. It’s not the first time in history that happens, but there are good reasons to see the war in Ukraine as the first one defining the conflict lines of this century.

The Discourse of Privilege: Western Europe and the Russian War against Ukraine
In this op-ed by Elżbieta Kwiecińska and Pavel Skigin, they detail why “being a radical pacifist is a great privilege that only Westerners can afford nowadays.”

Ukraine: not a war about democracy
In this op-ed by Irina Domurath and Stefano Palestini, they discuss the war in Ukraine and why the West should leave behind the narrative that this is a “war of values.”

Big, but Distant Dreams. Political and Legal Implications of Moldova’s Quest for EU Membership
On 3 March 2022 Moldova applied for EU membership. After the Soviet Union’s dissolution, Moldova started to build its independent statehood based on democratic values. However, the question that arises is whether Moldova reached its political and legal maturity to join the EU.

The Conference on the Future of Europe as a technopopulist experiment
Carlo Invernizzi Accetti and Federico Ottavio Reho in their op-ed for RevDem claim that political parties and other intermediary bodies are central for the democratization of the European Union.

Kiran Klaus Patel: The European Union has unexpectedly become too important to ignore
Ferenc Laczó discusses with Kiran Klaus Patel his latest book “Europäische Integration. Geschichte und Gegenwart” (European Integration: History and the Present Day).

European support for democracy: stress-tests ahead in 2022
Ken Godfrey and Richard Youngs write about 5 issues on the horizon in 2022 that will test how far the EU really is committed to defending democratic values.

RevDem Thread: Transnational lists and beyond. How to democratise Europe?
This is our first RevDem thread – a series of short pieces answering key questions about modern democracies from top experts and practitioners in the field. We invite all interested authors to send further comments to our email address.

Montás: Why liberal education is the bedrock of modern-day democracy
In this conversation, hosted by RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Roosevelt Montás discusses his recent book “Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation”.

Adam Bodnar: What new rights do we need to better protect ourselves from abuses of power
Adam Bodnar on new rights that should be included in the Charter of Fundamental Rights

Three tales about France and Eric Zemmour
Michał Matlak writes about the most controversial candidate in the French presidential elections – Eric Zemmour.

Oliver Garner: Bridging Brexit and Polexit? Reforming EU withdrawal
This op-ed considers whether the reforms to the EU withdrawal that use the lessons of Brexit to address the possibility of “Polexit” can be helpful in resolving the ongoing values crisis in the EU.

Máté Szalai: Three narratives about the Qatari elections
Máté Szalai considers the three key narratives that observers and analysts use when discussing the historic elections held in Qatar this October. The first narrative highlights the elections as a vital milestone in the slow process of democratization, the second noted the importance of identity politics and voting rights, and the final narrative opined that…

‘In the Name of the Family’: Conference Report on the Budapest Demographic Summit
The authors summarize and contextualize the content of the summit to argue that the conference not only provided an opportunity for its participants to address the ‘demographic crisis’ in Europe and the ‘family politics of conservative’ governments,’ but also amounted to an attempt to develop a transnational narrative for such self-declared conservatives that could unite…

Unspoken Inequalities. The Problems of Men in Europe
In many developed countries, polarization of young women and men has been increasingly visible in polls and has been noted by public opinion.

Informal power – undermining democracy under the EU’s radar in Hungary and Poland
In this article, Edit Zgut discusses how the governments in Hungary and Poland have been able to undermine democracy using informal power, namely political clientism and media capture, while “flying beneath the radar” of EU’s mechanisms which are meant to prevent such deteriorations.

The instability of the Northern Ireland Protocol: A present threat to the Rule of Law?
RevDem editor Oliver Garner reflects here on the present threat to the Rule of Law arising from the fraught context of renegotiation of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

How populists change parliaments
In their op-ed, Aleksandra Maatsch and Eric Miklin argue populist parties are both willing and able to weaken or even disempower representative institutions.

An Open Letter in Defense of Democracy
We are publishing an open letter signed by key figures from the American political life.

Peru: A Democracy That Does Not Deliver
Diego A Salazar-Morales analyses for us the political crisis in Peru.

Why is the collective protection of democracy in the Americas doomed to fail? The Inter-American Charter at 20
Stefano Palestini writes about the Inter-American Democratic Charter on the occasion of its 20th anniversary.

Is Democracy in Tunisia Threatened or is it on the Way to Consolidation?
Ameni Mehrez analyses the political situation in Tunisia after the summer wave of protests.

New Crises: Science, Morality and Democracy in the 21st Century
Wolfgang Merkel in his op-Ed analyses three aspects of democracy crises: scientistation, moralisation and polarisation.

After the Election in Iran: What to Expect From the New President?
Luíza Cerioli analyses the situation of Iran after the presidential elections, focusing on the international consequences of this choice.

How East-West Dynamics Define Europe
In his article, Ferenc Laczo writes about the roots of the division of Europe into East and West and its consequences for European politics today.

Legal impossibilism versus the rule of law
Our editor, Katarzyna Krzyżanowska, writes about the relation between the rule of law in Poland and the idea of legal impossibilism, providing some worrying empirical data on the administration of justice in Poland.

Editorial: Why yet another journal on democracy?
April 2021 marks the first month of the Review of Democracy, RevDem for short, an intellectual and academic journal founded by the CEU Democracy Institute. In our first editorial, we would like to inform our readers about the purpose of the Review and the main ideas behind it.

DI and RevDem Event: What Price the Rule of Law?
On 25 January the CEU Democracy Institute hosted Commissioner Didier Reynders and MEP Katalin Cseh for a debate on the new EU Regulation on Rule of Law conditionality. In this first editorial of the RevDem Rule of Law section, editor Oliver Garner and assistant editor Teodora Miljojkovic reflect on the implications for constitutional democracy of the impression…

The Politics of Antipopulism
The mainstream media and academia as well as political elites identify populist movements as the most important threat to the current liberal democratic regime. Populist actors have indeed unsettled and begun reshaping the European political landscape.

To Protect Academic Freedom, Stop Rule of Law Backsliding
Rule of Law and academic freedom are cherished political ideals of the liberal tradition. Insights from our work at McGill University’s academic freedom monitoring clinic, conducted in partnership with Scholars at Risk Network, has underscored the mutually reinforcing relationship between these two notions.