by Eunbyul Ko | Oct 19, 2026 | George Mason University
Polyarchy doesn’t mean democratization is done. To sustain Polyarchy it needs continuous civic engagement. History and the World Wars were rarely on Czechoslovakia’s side. In 1938, before World War II, Czechoslovakia was betrayed by Britain and France, who forced...
by Sarang Kim | Oct 17, 2026 | George Mason University
Risk Without Breakdown: Andrej Babiš, MAFRA, and Czech Democracy Threats to democracy do not always arrive looking like threats. Sometimes there are no tanks in the streets and no sudden dissolution of parliament. Elections continue, and institutions still seem to...
by Michael McClure | Feb 5, 2022 | University of Chicago
A few weeks ago, I received the letter pictured above from Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán in my mailbox. “Dear citizen! I write to you today because Hungary has a parliamentary election next spring,” the letter reads. Aiming to mobilize the addressees—Hungarian...
by Hugo Barrillon | Nov 16, 2020 | University of Chicago
Incentives are everything. Since its founding in 1993, the European Union (EU) has understood this and become a master of soft power pressure and incentive-based democratic reforms. Indeed, as much as the European Union began as an economic union, it has taken on...
by Wenquan Xiao | May 7, 2019 | University of Chicago
On March 30, 2019 Zuzana Caputova, leader of Progressive Slovakia (PS), won a sweeping victory in the country’s presidential election. In a few months, she will become Slovakia’s first female president. Her triumph marks a symbolic victory for liberalism in Central...
