Factors Affecting Democratization
Riccardo Pelizzo
Comparative Government
21 April 2003
Factors affecting Democratization
The Third Wave of Democratization, written by Samuel P. Huntington, analyzes global political development of the late twentieth century. He examines the factors that induce a country to undergo the transition from a non-democratic form of government to a democratic form of government. He claims that there have been three waves of democratization, and his book particularly focuses on the third wave which began in 1974, with the collapse of the Portuguese dictatorship, and is currently still in effect. This time period witnessed the collapse of over 30 authoritarian regimes in Europe, Asia, and Latin America which then made the transition to democracy and were characterized mainly by one party systems. Nations that undergo the transition to a democratic form of government usually display three particular characteristics: a high level of economic development, a highly educated public, and a large middle class. The second table, below Huntington’s, provides the literacy rates, GDPs, and life expectancies of five imaginary countries. Of these five countries, D and E are the most likely to democratize and they are also the most likely to consolidate democracy because they possess the three main characteristics of democratic countries. Huntington provides a chart, on page 62 of his work, in which countries are classified according to their GNPs in 1976 in relation to the type of government they possessed in 1974. It also shows whether the countries democratized or liberalized between 1974 and 1989, or whether they maintained their non-democratic regimes throughout those years. The chart below Huntington’s provides the literacy rate, GDP per capita, and life expectancy of five imaginary countries. The characteristics provided on the second graph are critical to understanding each individual country’s potential towards becoming democracies and their ability to
Comparative Government
21 April 2003
Factors affecting Democratization
The Third Wave of Democratization, written by Samuel P. Huntington, analyzes global political development of the late twentieth century. He examines the factors that induce a country to undergo the transition from a non-democratic form of government to a democratic form of government. He claims that there have been three waves of democratization, and his book particularly focuses on the third wave which began in 1974, with the collapse of the Portuguese dictatorship, and is currently still in effect. This time period witnessed the collapse of over 30 authoritarian regimes in Europe, Asia, and Latin America which then made the transition to democracy and were characterized mainly by one party systems. Nations that undergo the transition to a democratic form of government usually display three particular characteristics: a high level of economic development, a highly educated public, and a large middle class. The second table, below Huntington’s, provides the literacy rates, GDPs, and life expectancies of five imaginary countries. Of these five countries, D and E are the most likely to democratize and they are also the most likely to consolidate democracy because they possess the three main characteristics of democratic countries. Huntington provides a chart, on page 62 of his work, in which countries are classified according to their GNPs in 1976 in relation to the type of government they possessed in 1974. It also shows whether the countries democratized or liberalized between 1974 and 1989, or whether they maintained their non-democratic regimes throughout those years. The chart below Huntington’s provides the literacy rate, GDP per capita, and life expectancy of five imaginary countries. The characteristics provided on the second graph are critical to understanding each individual country’s potential towards becoming democracies and their ability to