Essential Principles and History
Books
Berman, Sheri
Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe (2019). New York: Oxford University Press.
Chenoweth, Erica and Stephen, Maria J.
Why Civic Resistance Works. New York (2011). New York: Columbia University Press.
Crick, Bernard
Democracy: A Very Short Introduction (2003). New York: Oxford University Press.
Levitsky, Steven and Ziblatt, David
How Democracies Die (Crown Publishing: New York, 2018). PDF Version.
Articles
Bouie, Jamelle
“America Had More Than One Founding & Set of Founders,” July 4, 2023.
Keyssar, Alexander
“Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College?”, interview with Alexander Keyssar with Marina Bolotnikova, Harvard Magazine, July 20, 2020.
Nicas, Jack
“Two Capitol Riots. Two Very Different Results,” The New York Times, January 8, 2024.
Other Resources
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century.
Freedom House
Freedom in the World Survey: 2024: "“The Mounting Damage of Flawed Elections.”
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Thomas Hobbes: Moral & Political Philosophy.
- John Locke: Political Philosophy.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778).
The English Bill of Rights (UK Archival Description of Document and Text).
Magna Carta (Full text, The British Library; Description of, US National Archives).
French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, Elysee Palace.
United States Congress Select Committee to Investigate January 6 Attack on the US Capitol Report Executive Summary and Full Report (December 22, 2022).
United States Department of Justice
United States v. Donald Trump (in the matter of January 6, 2023).
United States National Archives
US Declaration of Independence.
South Africa
Commission of Inquiry on State Capture (The Zondo Commission home page).
Economist magazine: Topics Index: South Africa
Selected Articles:
- “The Zondo Commission Has Revealed Vast Graft” (June 23, 2022).
- “Desmond Tutu Believed Truth Was the Best Weapon” (Jan. 1, 2022).
- “Nelson Mandela: Invictus” (Dec. 14, 2013).
Guardian
“Jacob Zuma in Russia for Health Reasons,” July 14, 2023.
Foreign Policy
“Zuma’s Arrest Is a Victory for the Rule of Law,” July 9, 2021.
The New York Times: World Topics: South Africa
Selected Articles:
- “Obituary of Nelson Mandela” (December 5, 2013).
- “Obituary of Desmond Tutu” (December 26, 2021).
- “Mandela Goes From Hero to Scapegoat as South Africa Struggles,” (July 18, 2023).
- “South Africa’s Choice,” by John Eligon, New York Times Magazine, May 26, 2024.
Other Resources
Carlin, John. Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation (New York: Penguin Books Reprint Edition, 2009).
Lodge, Tom. Mandela: A Critical Life (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).
Mandela, Nelson.
Address to the People of Cape Town (Inauguration Speech), May 9, 1994.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
U.S. Department of State Human Rights Country Reports (go to current year Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and scroll down to Africa/South Africa).
Bolivia
Economist magazine: Topics Index: Bolivia.
The New York Times: World Topics: Bolivia.
Other Resources
New York Review of Books, Guillermoprieto, Alma. "The New Bolivia?” (Aug. 10, 2006) and “The New Bolivia II." (Sept. 21, 2006).
U.S. Department of State Human Rights Country Reports (go to current year Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and scroll down to Western Hemisphere/Bolivia).
Iran
Economist magazine: Topics Index: Iran.
The New York Times: World Topics: Iran. See, e.g., “On Trial for Reporting on a Death That Fueled a Revolt.” (June 11, 2023).
Other Resources
Center for Human Rights in Iran.
Bakhash, Shaul. "Letter from Evin Prison." New York Review of Books (Sept. 22, 2005).
Ebadi, Shirin. “Nobel Lecture” (December 3, 2003).
Foreign Affairs
The Indominable Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Aug. 15, 2024.
Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003). New York: Random House.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: A Story of a Childhood (2003), a graphic novel. New York: Pantheon Books.
U.S. Department of State Human Rights Country Reports (go to current year Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and scroll down to Near East/Iran).
The content on this page was last updated on .