Framing ethical perspectives
Democracy is a form of government in which political control is given to the people, whether directly or through the election of governing officials. Currently, large numbers of people have lost faith in this form of government and some elected officials have been working to dismantle democratic institutions. Our programs, events, and experts strive to better understand this development.
Featured Democracy Resources
State of global democracy, U.S. global engagement, and more
FEB 6, 2026 • Article
Trump and the Gaslighting of American Realism
APR 9, 2026 • Article
Realism vs. Pragmatism: Understanding America’s New Rhetorical Landscape
Amid Trump's fiery rhetoric and debates over "realism," Professor Jason Ralph writes that "pragmatism" may offer a better alternative for the American public.
SEP 11, 2025 • Video
Post-Liberal American Power
In the first event in our "Values & Interests" series, an expert panel examines the question: Has Trump 2.0 ushered in an era of post-liberal American power?
Related Initiatives
Ethics & International Affairs Journal
Ethics & International Affairs is the quarterly journal of Carnegie Council. It aims to close the gap between the theory and practice of ethics.
Explore Our Democracy Resources
MAY 10, 2001 • Article
Building Peace and Civil Society in Afghanistan: Challenges and Opportunities
Participants examine the social costs of the conflict in Afghanistan -- exacerbated by the policies of the ruling Taliban regime -- and the local, ...
NOV 17, 2000 • Transcript
History of the Present: Essays, Sketches and Dispatches from Europe in the 1990s
"The leaders of Western Europe share a direct responsibility for much of what went wrong in the Eastern half of the continent through the 1990s," ...
FEB 9, 2000 • Article
Democracy Beyond the State: The European Dilemma and the Emerging Global Order
States and citizens within the European Union are now far along in a vast experiment involving an attempt to use the dynamism of market-capitalism to ...
JUN 5, 1997 • Article
Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 1, Number 9 (Summer 1997): Innovative Human Rights Strategies in East Asia: Articles: Promoting Local Autonomy in Korea
Kim Dong-Ik retraces the problems local autonomy has had in Korea as well has it's recent revival and development. The Citizen’s Coalition for ...
JUN 5, 1997 • Article
Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 1, Number 9 (Summer 1997): Innovative Human Rights Strategies in East Asia: Articles: Popular Demands for Village Elections in Rural China
Amidst popular demands for election in rural China, Lianjiang Li reports on the struggles and reality of democratic promotion in rural villages along with the ...
MAR 5, 1997 • Article
Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 1, Number 8 (Spring 1997): Transitional Justice in East Asia and its Impact on Human Rights: Articles: Ethnic Reconciliation and Political Reform Before Justice in Burma
Maran La Raw questions whether the governmental framework proposed by the future transitional government is capable of resolving the ethnic and political problems that have ...
SEP 4, 1995 • Article
Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 1, Number 2 (Fall 1995): About the Human Rights Initiative: Articles: Refocusing the Human Rights Debate in East Asia: A Review of Recent Writings
The Bangkok Declaration on Human Rights marked a standoff between human rights advocates and East Asian governments, underscoring the need to improve human rights discourse ...
MAY 26, 1995 • Article
Morgenthau Lecture: The New Dimensions of Human Rights
"The interface between ethics and science will hence be the new frontier of politics—the third new dimension of human rights," warns Zbigniew Brzezinski.
MAY 26, 1986 • Article
Morgenthau Lecture: Is Democratic Theory for Export?
Jacques Barzun argues that democracy is a historical development peculiar to the political context in which it developed. Attempts to export it will surely fail.
JUN 1, 1976 • Article
An Interview With Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
"Today this nuclear threat still hangs over both sides, but the West has chosen the wrong path of making concessions. Nuclear war is not even ...