Democracy on the wane

In country after country, democratic reforms are in retreat. The surprising culprit: the middle class

Antigovernment demonstrators during a protest in Bangkok in August. (Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/Getty Images)

By Joshua Kurlantzick

September 14, 2008

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IN THE STREETS of Bangkok, mobs of middle class Thais who would normally hit the city's massive shopping malls have been hitting the pavement instead. For days, hundreds of thousands of protesters have massed in the streets, demanding the resignation of the prime minister, shutting down airports with their protests, and even laying siege to the main government building. As ... (Full article: 1938 words)