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Democracy and political theory

Democracy, liberalism, authoritarianism, ideology, participation, and collective action.

6,857 stories · 91 in 30 days · Updated Sep 28, 2026

The pace of conversation

Posts per month

2020-01: 104 posts2020-02: 72 posts2020-03: 75 posts2020-04: 72 posts2020-05: 73 posts2020-06: 160 posts2020-07: 139 posts2020-08: 99 posts2020-09: 107 posts2020-10: 137 posts2020-11: 121 posts2020-12: 90 posts2021-01: 155 posts2021-02: 100 posts2021-03: 108 posts2021-04: 97 posts2021-05: 80 posts2021-06: 89 posts2021-07: 85 posts2021-08: 81 posts2021-09: 81 posts2021-10: 118 posts2021-11: 80 posts2021-12: 76 posts2022-01: 103 posts2022-02: 95 posts2022-03: 88 posts2022-04: 76 posts2022-05: 90 posts2022-06: 68 posts2022-07: 99 posts2022-08: 85 posts2022-09: 88 posts2022-10: 87 posts2022-11: 61 posts2022-12: 79 posts2023-01: 74 posts2023-02: 63 posts2023-03: 85 posts2023-04: 74 posts2023-05: 85 posts2023-06: 98 posts2023-07: 85 posts2023-08: 90 posts2023-09: 73 posts2023-10: 79 posts2023-11: 71 posts2023-12: 77 posts2024-01: 82 posts2024-02: 61 posts2024-03: 58 posts2024-04: 59 posts2024-05: 55 posts2024-06: 49 posts2024-07: 75 posts2024-08: 52 posts2024-09: 59 posts2024-10: 85 posts2024-11: 82 posts2024-12: 80 posts2025-01: 80 posts2025-02: 101 posts2025-03: 80 posts2025-04: 83 posts2025-05: 57 posts2025-06: 80 posts2025-07: 82 posts2025-08: 81 posts2025-09: 94 posts2025-10: 89 posts2025-11: 67 posts2025-12: 83 posts2026-01: 107 posts2026-02: 88 posts2026-03: 71 posts2026-04: 76 posts2026-05: 47 posts2026-06: 75 posts2026-07: 82 posts2026-08: 77 posts2026-09: 88 posts
2020-012026-09

Posts per month · first and latest months may be partial.

01 / EXPLORE THROUGH TIME

Timeline

Start with the latest. Scroll back through time, or zoom in for more.

Year by yearUp to 5 stories per year
2026711 stories
Most arguments are about ego, not ideas↗ wangcong.org · HN · 561 comments · 728 points · Jul 01, 2026
The hypocrisy of cyberlibertarianism↗ matduggan.com · HN · 399 comments · 425 points · May 09, 2026
Good ideas do not need lots of lies in order to gain public acceptance (2008)↗ blog.danieldavies.com · HN · 207 comments · 365 points · Apr 02, 2026
Corruption erodes social trust more in democracies than in autocracies↗ frontiersin.org · HN · 388 comments · 745 points · Mar 16, 2026
Yes, It's Fascism↗ theatlantic.com · HN · 400 comments · 680 points · Jan 25, 2026
2025977 stories
Terence Tao: The role of small organizations in society has shrunk significantly↗ mathstodon.xyz · HN · 565 comments · 1060 points · Sep 24, 2025
Building supercomputers for autocrats probably isn't good for democracy↗ helentoner.substack.com · HN · 259 comments · 455 points · Jun 08, 2025
Why I don't discuss politics with friends↗ shwin.co · HN · 1039 comments · 527 points · Apr 02, 2025
The Demoralization is just Beginning↗ geohot.github.io · HN · 783 comments · 496 points · Mar 05, 2025
The Origins of Wokeness↗ paulgraham.com · HN · 2212 comments · 935 points · Jan 13, 2025
2024797 stories
38th Chaos Communication Congress↗ events.ccc.de · HN · 195 comments · 353 points · Dec 24, 2024
Wishing for a more orderly disruption may misunderstand government reform↗ eatingpolicy.com · HN · 301 comments · 159 points · Dec 14, 2024
A new book shows how the power of companies is destabilizing governance↗ hai.stanford.edu · HN · 344 comments · 333 points · Oct 22, 2024
Drift towards danger and the normalization of deviance (2017)↗ risk-engineering.org · HN · 103 comments · 213 points · Sep 19, 2024
Balaji Srinivasan calls for tech to "exit democracy" and seize local governments↗ newrepublic.com · HN · 97 comments · 139 points · Apr 26, 2024
2023954 stories
How the weak win wars: A theory of asymmetric conflict [pdf] (2001)↗ web.archive.org · HN · 60 comments · 59 points · Dec 24, 2023
Effective Altruism Is a Welter of Lies, Hypocrisy, and Eugenic Fantasies↗ truthdig.com · HN · 4 comments · 38 points · Nov 12, 2023
11% of the world’s billionaires have held or sought political office↗ news.northwestern.edu · HN · 12 comments · 41 points · Nov 03, 2023
Activists Have One Simple Goal: Abolish the Cruise Industry↗ thenation.com · HN · 25 comments · 41 points · Sep 16, 2023
We need more of Richard Stallman, not less↗ ploum.net · HN · 59 comments · 92 points · Jun 19, 2023
20221,019 stories
An ‘everything app’ would be bad for liberal democracies and free markets↗ nitinpai.in · HN · 345 comments · 348 points · Oct 10, 2022
Mandated diversity statement drives Jonathan Haidt to quit academic society↗ reason.com · HN · 827 comments · 600 points · Oct 02, 2022
Be critical or be corrupted↗ cenizal.com · HN · 186 comments · 297 points · Sep 23, 2022
The dictatorship of the articulate↗ florentcrivello.com · HN · 390 comments · 305 points · Sep 01, 2022
Our nation cannot censor its way back to cultural health↗ frenchpress.thedispatch.com · HN · 342 comments · 353 points · Feb 07, 2022
20211,150 stories
Please Bring Back Our Downvotes: Society Desperately Needs It↗ theapeiron.co.uk · HN · 532 comments · 329 points · Jul 28, 2021
Conspiracy: In Theory and Practice↗ edwardsnowden.substack.com · HN · 220 comments · 374 points · Jun 29, 2021
As religious faith has declined, ideological intensity has risen↗ theatlantic.com · HN · 768 comments · 594 points · Jun 11, 2021
Once a bastion of free speech, the ACLU faces an identity crisis↗ nytimes.com · HN · 507 comments · 388 points · Jun 06, 2021
Personal experiences bridge moral and political divides better than facts↗ pnas.org · HN · 164 comments · 388 points · Jan 29, 2021
20201,249 stories
Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being↗ theatlantic.com · HN · 316 comments · 548 points · Oct 18, 2020
Propaganda, censorship, and surveillance are all attributes of monopoly↗ joindiaspora.com · HN · 185 comments · 333 points · Oct 13, 2020
Are you an anarchist? The answer may surprise you (2000)↗ theanarchistlibrary.org · HN · 812 comments · 286 points · Sep 05, 2020
‘Strong Opinions, Weakly Held’ Doesn't Work That Well↗ commoncog.com · HN · 169 comments · 290 points · Jul 21, 2020
Swiss Political System: More Than You Ever Wanted to Know↗ 250bpm.com · HN · 241 comments · 304 points · Jul 18, 2020
Scroll through time ↕

02 / CATCH UP

The conversation now

Popular stories, with attention fading over roughly two weeks.

The current balance of power in open models↗ interconnects.ai · HN · 58 comments · 131 points · Sep 22, 2026
Allegations of US interference in Quebec election↗ globalnews.ca · HN · 25 comments · 65 points · Sep 27, 2026
Tech Fascism Has Come for American Democracy↗ techwontsave.us · HN · 48 comments · 88 points · Sep 16, 2026
Omarchy Is a Power Grab↗ tante.cc · HN · 77 comments · 98 points · Sep 11, 2026
Manifesto – who we are and what do we want (2002)↗ inventati.org · HN · 60 comments · 114 points · Aug 29, 2026

03 / GO DEEPER

Follow your curiosity

Find a particular story, revisit a year, or see what resonated.

Highest rated · the last 30 days

The current balance of power in open models↗ interconnects.ai · HN · 58 comments · 131 points · Sep 22, 2026
Omarchy Is a Power Grab↗ tante.cc · HN · 77 comments · 98 points · Sep 11, 2026
Tech Fascism Has Come for American Democracy↗ techwontsave.us · HN · 48 comments · 88 points · Sep 16, 2026
Allegations of US interference in Quebec election↗ globalnews.ca · HN · 25 comments · 65 points · Sep 27, 2026
Kakistocracy↗ en.wikipedia.org · HN · 6 comments · 60 points · Sep 03, 2026
The Nerd Reich wants to 'destroy' democracy, and it's mask has slipped↗ abc.net.au · HN · 13 comments · 25 points · Sep 02, 2026
Nationalists, theocrats and tech titans turned their backs on the future↗ ft.com · HN · 3 comments · 20 points · Sep 05, 2026
Europe Must Choose Between Power and Dependence↗ slavoj.substack.com · HN · 14 comments · 17 points · Sep 24, 2026
With regulatory capture we will speedrun to a new feudalist time↗ twitter.com · HN · 6 comments · 16 points · Sep 12, 2026
The Failed "Hostage Theory" of Nikole Hannah-Jones↗ educationprogress.org · HN · 8 comments · 15 points · Sep 26, 2026

10 stories shown.

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