Democratisation Around the World
Democratisation, also known as the growth of political freedom, has become a central concern for the international community. Western countries have increased their efforts to promote democratisation around the world, including punishing anti-democratic governments while rewarding those that promote democracy. Furthermore, pro-democracy NGO’s have been sprouting up across the world, calling for democratisation within autocracies and fostering democratisation movements within democracies. These pro-democratic organisations and movements have taken advantage of the global communication system to reach out to the unfree and oppressed.
Several scholars have argued for an analogous approach to Eastern European democratisation, despite the differences between the two regions. They believe that the differences are overstated and do not prevent cross-regional comparisons. Furthermore, they argue that Eastern European democratisation can be understood through conceptual lenses drawn from the experiences of Southern Europe and Latin America. These perspectives can be complementary to existing literature on the subject.
The processes of democratisation and consolidation are interrelated, but they have their own distinctive characteristics. Consolidation is based on a partial redefinition of transition agreements and the establishment of more robust transition institutions. It also involves the removal of anti-democratic provisions that were necessary for the transition period. For example, in post-1989 East-Central European parliaments, reserving seats in parliament was a common practice.
Bottom-up democratisation builds up civil society, holds leaders to account, and engages the entire nation in development. Although examples of bottom-up democratisation are limited, they offer some hope. In Tanzania, for example, locals asserted their rights over traditional grazing, which led to a process of legitimacy from both the bottom up and above.
Similarly, the printing press led to democratisation of information. Gutenberg first invented the printing press in the early 1400s, and his invention had a major social impact. Today, the internet has had a similar effect. Through the Internet, people from all over the world can share ideas, communicate with one another, and share information.
The expansion of the welfare state helped to empower the majority of the population and increased the state’s ability to directly intervene in society. Those countries that were part of the socialist bloc knew that the state could not be too intrusive in the public life of its citizens. As a result, their governments were forced to compromise their ideologies.
Moreover, the growing awareness of a multicultural society resulted in the mainstreaming of the post-colonial paradigm. In addition to bringing about social change, global history has also helped in demonstrating the inextricability of the modern world. Consequently, this development has led to the emergence of more diverse forms of nation-states and a multicultural society.
Democratisation, also known as the growth of political freedom, has become a central concern for the international community. Western countries have increased their efforts to promote democratisation around the world, including punishing anti-democratic governments while rewarding those that promote democracy. Furthermore, pro-democracy NGO’s have been sprouting up across the world, calling for democratisation within autocracies and fostering democratisation movements within democracies. These pro-democratic organisations and movements have taken advantage of the global communication system to reach out to the unfree and oppressed. Several scholars have argued for an analogous approach to Eastern European democratisation, despite the differences between the two regions. They believe that the differences are overstated and do not prevent cross-regional comparisons. Furthermore, they argue that Eastern European democratisation can be understood through conceptual lenses drawn from the experiences of Southern Europe and Latin America. These perspectives can be complementary to existing literature on the subject. The processes of democratisation and consolidation are interrelated, but they have their own distinctive characteristics. Consolidation is based on a partial redefinition of transition agreements and the establishment of more robust transition institutions. It also involves the removal of anti-democratic provisions that were necessary for the transition period. For example, in post-1989 East-Central European parliaments, reserving seats in parliament was a common practice. Bottom-up democratisation builds up civil society, holds leaders to account, and engages the entire nation in development. Although examples of bottom-up democratisation are limited, they offer some hope. In Tanzania, for example, locals asserted their rights over traditional grazing, which led to a process of legitimacy from both the bottom up and above. Similarly, the printing press led to democratisation of information. Gutenberg first invented the printing press in the early 1400s, and his invention had a major social impact. Today, the internet has had a similar effect. Through the Internet, people from all over the world can share ideas, communicate with one another, and share information. The expansion of the welfare state helped to empower the majority of the population and increased the state’s ability to directly intervene in society. Those countries that were part of the socialist bloc knew that the state could not be too intrusive in the public life of its citizens. As a result, their governments were forced to compromise their ideologies. Moreover, the growing awareness of a multicultural society resulted in the mainstreaming of the post-colonial paradigm. In addition to bringing about social change, global history has also helped in demonstrating the inextricability of the modern world. Consequently, this development has led to the emergence of more diverse forms of nation-states and a multicultural society.