Illustration by Be Boggs.
Letters to Zócalo
This Korean Election Shows How Fragile Our Democracy Is
Our Economic Culture Has Isolated Us. Our Politics Have Divided Us. Now We’re Backsliding
More than three decades after South Korea’s democratic transition, we thought we had consolidated our democratic progress. We imagined that our democracy was strong and would grow stronger.
We are learning we were wrong.
We are learning that our achievements in institutionalizing democracy are weak because they were achieved in a top-down way, enacted by a president or other politicians. Our everyday, ordinary cultural behavior is not supportive of democracy. Nepotistic practices and arbitrary decision-making persist in our society.
As we approach the April 10 congressional elections here, Korea is seeing huge backlashes …
In Ukraine, No Election Doesn’t Mean the Electorate Is Happy
President Zelensky Is an International Star. At Home, It’s More Complicated
Regular presidential elections should have taken place in Ukraine this month.
But on day one of Russia’s full-scale invasion of our country, Ukraine’s government introduced martial law, under which …
Seeking a Politics of Solidarity in Putin’s Russia
In a Country Where Nothing Changes, a 23-Year-Old Finds Hope Outside the Electoral System
In 2013, when I was 13, one of the oldest comedy TV programs in Russia released a sketch in which a group of musicians performed a version of Queen’s “I …
On the Campaign Trail With a Russian Antiwar Candidate
Thousands of People Came Out to Support Boris Nadezhdin’s Presidential Run. They Refuse to Lose Hope
In December 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. It had long been clear that he had plans to aim for his fifth …
Will Indonesia’s Youth Install a Political Dynasty?
On TikTok, Gen Z Voters See the Candidates as Father Figures and Kindly Uncles. They Don’t Get the Whole Story
President Suharto’s New Order regime was a dictatorship in which he often liked to refer to the Indonesian nation as a “family” with himself at the helm—a patriarchal …
An Election Without Artists
The Outgoing Indonesian President’s Campaigns Inspired Songs, Paintings, and Poems. Creatives’ Silence in This Race Speaks Volumes
The absence of art in Indonesia’s presidential election has been noticeable.
Back in 2014, when Joko Widodo—known as Jokowi—campaigned to become the seventh president of this republic, …
Send A Letter To the Editors