Elections

A Country Unto Itself

There’s no place like India. Which is precisely why its politics and economy are such a contradictory, beautiful mess.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MARCH 1, 2013

Not All Elections Are Worthy of the Name

Sorry, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel. Just because Iran holds elections doesn’t mean that its government represents the people.

BY JEFFREY GEDMIN | MARCH 1, 2013

The Kenya Puzzle

In Kenya, progress and dysfunction go hand in hand.

BY DANIEL BRANCH | FEBRUARY 28, 2013

There is no Indonesia Model for the Arab Spring

Yes, Muslim-majority Indonesia has made a successful transition to democracy. But no, that doesn’t make it an example for the Arab Spring.

BY TOM PEPINSKY | FEBRUARY 27, 2013

Slumdog Politics

Photos from Mathare, one of Nairobi's sprawling slums, where warlords, witches, and drug dealers stump for votes ahead of next month's election.

PHOTOS BY MACKENZIE KNOWLES-COURSIN | FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Vote M for Murder

In Kenya, politics is simply the continuation of war, by other means.

BY JAMES VERINI | FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Circus Maximus

The upcoming Italian election has everything a casual observer could want. But Italians themselves might not be so lucky.

BY GIANNI RIOTTA | FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Venezuela's New Era

Venezuelans are contemplating the possibility of a new life without Hugo Chávez. But can the existing system continue in the absence of its creator?

BY PHIL GUNSON | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The Curse of Stability in Central Asia

The autocrats of Central Asia like to tout the virtues of stability. But they're really making excuses for decay.

BY SARAH KENDZIOR | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Georgia's Political Standoff Deepens

A letter from Tbilisi

BY ANNA NEMTSOVA | FEBRUARY 11, 2013

The End of Ukraine's Balancing Act

Ukraine has long faced a choice: Should it cast its lot with Russia or the European Union? 2013 is shaping up to be the year Kyiv finally decides. The first in our series of Lab Reports.

BY ASKOLD KRUSHELNYCKY | FEBRUARY 7, 2013

Rowdies with a Cause

How a bunch of soccer fans became the Muslim Brotherhood’s worst nightmare.

BY SULOME ANDERSON | FEBRUARY 5, 2013

The Egyptian Treadmill

Why Washington isn’t panicking about Egypt’s latest crisis.

BY MARC LYNCH | JANUARY 31, 2013

The First Lab Results Are In

Democracy Lab is celebrating its first anniversary. Here are some of the things we've learned over the past year -- and where we're headed in year two.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JANUARY 31, 2013

The Republic of Port Said

An insurrection along the Suez Canal represents the greatest threat yet to the Muslim Brotherhood's rule in Egypt.

BY EVAN C. HILL | JANUARY 30, 2013

Israel's New Kingmaker

Yair Lapid's critics have dismissed the former TV personality as vapid and uninformed. They couldn't be more wrong.

BY NERI ZILBER | JANUARY 29, 2013

Think Again: The Muslim Brotherhood

How did so many Western analysts get Egypt's Islamist movement so wrong?

BY ERIC TRAGER | JANUARY 28, 2013

Paving the Way for Mandela's Election

Organizing the first post-apartheid election in 1994 took a lot of logistical planning and political inclusion. But it also took a lot of creativity in finding  solutions to the numerous problems that arose.

BY AMY MAWSON | JANUARY 28, 2013

Israel's January Surprise

The pundits were wrong: Israeli voters aren't lurching to the right.

BY JONATHAN SCHANZER | JANUARY 23, 2013

The Political Afterlife of Hugo Chavez

Hugo Chávez has left a profound mark on Venezuela. But how much of his legacy will remain when he’s gone?

BY DANIEL LANSBERG-RODRIGUEZ | JANUARY 23, 2013

Learning to Live with Bibi

Netanyahu's back, and Barack Obama needs to find a way to work with him this time around.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | JANUARY 23, 2013

Shaking Hands, Kissing Tinokot

Israeli pols hit the trail from Haifa to Hebron in search of votes ahead of next Tuesday's election.

JANUARY 18, 2013

Rise of the Annexers

In Israel's heated electoral politics, peace is becoming a fringe position.

BY LARRY DERFNER | JANUARY 18, 2013

Lost Tribes

This Israeli election is not about Bibi. It's about nothing.

BY DANIEL LEVY | JANUARY 15, 2013

The Bidenization of America

The veep is no joke -- and he's making a serious play for 2016.

BY DAVID ROTHKOPF | JANUARY 14, 2013

Avoiding War Number Two in Liberia

A war-torn country is not a broken country. How Liberia pulled off its 2005 election.

BY MICHAEL SCHARFF | JANUARY 11, 2013

Life After Chávez

With Venezuela's president-for-life looking pretty close to death, the country's politicians are jostling to fill his shoes.

BY PETER WILSON | JANUARY 9, 2013

Saving Afghanistan

It can be done, but only if the international community truly invests in democracy.

BY ABDULLAH ABDULLAH | JANUARY 8, 2013

The Year in Unfreedom

An encouraging number of the world's people voted in 2012. But voting does not a democracy make.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JANUARY 4, 2013

Unholy Alliances

Israel's election is bringing together some strange bedfellows.

BY NOAH EFRON | JANUARY 3, 2013