Democratisation and Acceleration
Democratisation, from the Latin ‘democratia’ or ‘demokratia’, is the process of establishing a democratic system of government in a country that previously had no such regime. The explosive wave of democratization that swept across the globe in the mid-20th century radically changed international politics by making democracies the rule rather than the exception, and by linking democracy to many desirable outcomes, from human rights to economic prosperity to security. Since then, there has been intense interest in figuring out what conditions are required for a country to become democratic, and how the democratization process can be accelerated.
The conventional wisdom is that the most important precondition for a democracy is the presence of a large middle class. Middle-class citizens, as property owners with a strong interest in maintaining their economic security and stability, tend to pressure governments for greater participation and accountability in governance issues. This is one of the key reasons that democratization processes are generally faster in countries with a large middle class than in those without it.
However, the fact that there are a variety of paths to democracy—and that a country can experience a rapid transition even while having little or no middle class—challenges this hypothesis. In addition, the existence of wealthy authoritarian regimes suggests that wealth is not a necessary condition for democracy.
Some scholars have suggested that the emergence of a democratic culture is also a critical precondition. Statistical studies of public opinion have shown a positive correlation between the level of democracy in a country and the degree to which its citizenry holds values and attitudes consistent with democracy. Supporters of this view argue that democratic values and norms are learned over time, and that a democratic culture is especially important because it makes it more likely that a country will experience stable and durable democracy.
Other scholars have emphasized the importance of education as a democratization factor. They point to research showing that people with higher levels of education are more likely to support democratic values and participate in civic activities such as voting than those with less education. But they caution that the value of education as a democratization factor is overstated because it is hard to separate its effects on political involvement from its effect on other behaviors that are beneficial to democracy, such as volunteering and contributing money.
Regardless of the exact sequence of democratization factors and their interactions, there is agreement that any theory of democratization needs to move beyond mapping pathways and proposing necessary conditions and toward specifying causal mechanisms of democratisation. That is, we need to find ways of identifying and understanding recurrent changes in public politics, categorical inequality and networks of trust, and finding mechanisms that can explain those dynamics. Only then can we begin to understand why and how a country becomes a democratic state. The following articles discuss a range of theories of democratisation. All of them address the fundamental question: What conditions are necessary and sufficient for a state to become democratic?
Democratisation, from the Latin ‘democratia’ or ‘demokratia’, is the process of establishing a democratic system of government in a country that previously had no such regime. The explosive wave of democratization that swept across the globe in the mid-20th century radically changed international politics by making democracies the rule rather than the exception, and by linking democracy to many desirable outcomes, from human rights to economic prosperity to security. Since then, there has been intense interest in figuring out what conditions are required for a country to become democratic, and how the democratization process can be accelerated. The conventional wisdom is that the most important precondition for a democracy is the presence of a large middle class. Middle-class citizens, as property owners with a strong interest in maintaining their economic security and stability, tend to pressure governments for greater participation and accountability in governance issues. This is one of the key reasons that democratization processes are generally faster in countries with a large middle class than in those without it. However, the fact that there are a variety of paths to democracy—and that a country can experience a rapid transition even while having little or no middle class—challenges this hypothesis. In addition, the existence of wealthy authoritarian regimes suggests that wealth is not a necessary condition for democracy. Some scholars have suggested that the emergence of a democratic culture is also a critical precondition. Statistical studies of public opinion have shown a positive correlation between the level of democracy in a country and the degree to which its citizenry holds values and attitudes consistent with democracy. Supporters of this view argue that democratic values and norms are learned over time, and that a democratic culture is especially important because it makes it more likely that a country will experience stable and durable democracy. Other scholars have emphasized the importance of education as a democratization factor. They point to research showing that people with higher levels of education are more likely to support democratic values and participate in civic activities such as voting than those with less education. But they caution that the value of education as a democratization factor is overstated because it is hard to separate its effects on political involvement from its effect on other behaviors that are beneficial to democracy, such as volunteering and contributing money. Regardless of the exact sequence of democratization factors and their interactions, there is agreement that any theory of democratization needs to move beyond mapping pathways and proposing necessary conditions and toward specifying causal mechanisms of democratisation. That is, we need to find ways of identifying and understanding recurrent changes in public politics, categorical inequality and networks of trust, and finding mechanisms that can explain those dynamics. Only then can we begin to understand why and how a country becomes a democratic state. The following articles discuss a range of theories of democratisation. All of them address the fundamental question: What conditions are necessary and sufficient for a state to become democratic?