Subject: On Paywalls and Public Knowledge
Research on democracy shouldn’t be gated. If authoritarianism is a public threat, knowledge must be public too.
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I wrote this letter because research about authoritarianism, democracy, and resistance shouldn’t be locked behind paywalls—especially now. Everyday people deserve access to this knowledge, not just academics or institutions. I’m calling on Project MUSE and the Journal of Democracy to make critical content public—and I hope others will do the same when they see information being withheld that should be shared.
We can—and should—speak up.
Full letter below.
Subject: On Paywalls and Public Knowledge: A Request for Greater Access to Democratic Research
To the Editorial Teams at Journal of Democracy and Project MUSE,
I’m writing on behalf of Torch & Tinder Press, an independent publisher dedicated to cultural resistance, civic knowledge-sharing, and decentralized strategies for defending freedom in a time of democratic erosion.
Like many others, I recently attempted to access “The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism” by Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way—a foundational article that has become increasingly referenced in public discourse as authoritarian dynamics intensify around the world. What I found instead was a paywall.
That moment prompted this letter—not only because of that single article, but because the majority of your archive remains inaccessible to the people who arguably need it most: educators without institutional credentials, organizers outside of academia, and ordinary people seeking to understand the political shifts shaping their lives.
Research like this does not belong solely to scholars or universities. When civic threats escalate—when elections are undermined, media is discredited, and public trust is fractured—the insights published in journals like yours become vital tools of survival, resistance, and reform. Keeping them locked behind paywalls undermines the very democratic values your work aims to uphold.
To be clear: I understand that publication has costs. But it is not ethical—especially in moments of democratic crisis—to treat essential knowledge as a commodity reserved for the credentialed or the affluent. Inaccessibility doesn’t protect quality. It protects inequity.
Therefore, I respectfully urge you to consider the following:
Remove the paywall from “The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism” and other high-impact articles directly related to global democratic backsliding.
Commit to a long-term open-access strategy for works that address civic literacy, authoritarianism, disinformation, and political repression.
Explore partnerships with public-interest publishers and initiatives that support universal access to research with democratic implications.
If journals like Journal of Democracy truly believe in democratic principles, then public access cannot be an afterthought. It must be a priority.
Thank you for the work you do—and for considering the importance of who gets to read it.
Sincerely,
Robert Daniel
Founder, Torch & Tinder Press
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Keep your torchlight burning.
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