A(nother) "democratic moment"?

02.28.2005

Is a "fourth wave" of democracy starting? Events in Lebanon suggest it just might. A peaceful demonstration of Muslims & Christians against the Syrian-puppet regime looks like the recent "orange revolution" in Ukraine. And it's spilling over into Egypt now, too. Demonstration effect? Snowballing? What role does Iraq — and the recent elections there — play in all this?

-----
NOTE: The so-called "third wave" of democracy began in the 1970s in Southern Europe, spread to Latin America, then swept through Soviet Europe, picking up a few others (e.g. South Africa) along the way. By the late 1990s, the third wave was over; democratizers turned their focus to strengthening democracy (democratic consolidation) & preventing "democratic reversals". The (long) "first wave" began in the 1800s & ended in the early 1900s (e.g. US, Britain). The (short) "second wave" followed WW2 (e.g. Germany, Italy, Japan).

SEE: Diamond (et al), Consolidating the Third Wave Democracies, Vol 1; Diamond (et al), Consolidating the Third Wave Democracies, Vol 2; Diamond (et al), The Global Resurgence of Democracy; Huntington, The Third Wave.

Posted by Miguel at 02:26 PM

Comments

Interesting

I remember reading portions of Huntington's piece. I've forgotten it over the the last several years.

Posted by: tom at February 28, 2005 11:39 PM

But I thought each wave of democratization was followed by retrenchment of democracy. So, was the third wave ever finished? I see a problem here. N.

Posted by: Nenad at March 1, 2005 07:53 AM

There's debate on this point, of course, but there seems to be a common consensus that the third wave ended in the mid-1990s. The Consolidating the Third Wave books argue along that line, focusing mostly on preventing as many of the new democracies from breaking down as possible.

Posted by: Miguel [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 1, 2005 12:01 PM