Vol. 21 No. 1 (2021)

From among the five contributions in this issue, three articles comprise a special section on 'Populisms, Hybrid Regimes and Political Change'. They represent memoirs from the first edition of the Leonardo Morlino Lecture Series that was organised in Mexico in November 2019. They are followed by a study of the prospects and pitfalls of a South African developmental state in regional comparative perspective, and by a book review on the perils of corruptio

This issue opens with a special section, “Populisms, Hybrid Regimes and Political Change”, drawn from the first Leonardo Morlino Lecture Series, held in Mexico in November 2019. Juan Russo defines polarization, radicalization and populism and sets out hypotheses about how they relate. Jaime A. Preciado Coronado asks whether populism must lead to illiberal regimes or can be compatible with democratization. Rafael Plancarte Escobar uses game theory to explain how weaknesses in political participation and the rule of law have consolidated Mexico’s hybrid regime.

Beyond the special section, Marcel Nagar examines how security threats and the COVID-19 pandemic shape democratic developmental states in Africa, with South Africa as a central case. Nkosingiphile Mkhize reviews How to Steal a Country (2018) by by Robin Renwick, a study of state capture in South Africa.

The issue was originally published as Volume 48 (March 2021). It was renumbered in October 2026 under the journal’s year-based numbering. Its DOIs are unchanged.