Ademocratic transition describes a phase in a country'spolitical system as a result of an ongoing change from anauthoritarian regime to ademocratic one.[1][2][3] The process is known asdemocratisation, political changes moving in a democratic direction.[4]Democratization waves have been linked to sudden shifts in the distribution of power among the great powers, which created openings and incentives to introduce sweeping domestic reforms.[5][6] Although transitional regimes experience more civil unrest,[7][8] they may be considered stable in a transitional phase for decades at a time.[9][10][11] Since the end of theCold War transitional regimes have become the most common form of government.[12][13] Scholarly analysis of the decorative nature of democratic institutions concludes that the oppositedemocratic backsliding (autocratization), a transition to authoritarianism is the most prevalent basis of modernhybrid regimes.[14][15][16]
Democratic backsliding[a] is a form of autocratization, a process ofregime change towardauthoritarianism in which the exercise of political power becomes less limited and more arbitrary andrepressive.[24][25][26] Democratic backsliding specifically assumes a starting point of ademocratic system. The process typically restricts the space forpublic contest andpolitical participation in the process of government selection.[27][28] Democratic backsliding involves the weakening of democratic institutions, such as thepeaceful transition of power orfree and fair elections, or the violation of individual rights that underpin democracies, especiallyfreedom of expression.[29][30] Democratic backsliding is the opposite ofdemocratization.
Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from anauthoritarian government to a more democratic politicalregime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction.[31][32] The opposite process of democratic transition is known asdemocratic backsliding or autocratization. Whether and to what extent democratization occurs can be influenced by various factors, including economic development, historical legacies, civil society, and international processes. Some accounts of democratization emphasize how elites drove democratization, whereas other accounts emphasize grassroots bottom-up processes.[33] How democratization occurs has also been used to explain other political phenomena, such as whether a country goes to a war or whether its economy grows.[34]
Decolonization is the undoing ofcolonialism, the latter being the process wherebyimperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas.[35] The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially onindependence movements in thecolonies and the collapse of globalcolonial empires.[36][37]
Except for a few absolute monarchies, most post-colonial states are eitherrepublics orconstitutional monarchies. These new states had to deviseconstitutions,electoral systems, and other institutions ofrepresentative democracy.
Democratic globalization is asocial movement towards an institutional system of globaldemocracy.[38] One of its proponents is the British political thinkerDavid Held. In the last decade, Held published a dozen books regarding the spread of democracy from territorially defined nation states to a system ofglobal governance that encompasses the entire world. For some, democratic mundialisation (from the French term mondialisation) is a variant of democratic globalisation that emphasizes the need for citizens worldwide to directly elect world leaders and members of global institutions; for others, it is just democratic globalization by another name.[39]
Democracy promotion, also referred to as democracy building, can be domestic policy to increase the quality of already existing democracy or a strand of foreign policy adopted by governments and international organizations that seek to support the spread ofdemocracy as asystem of government. In practice, it entails consolidating and building democratic institutions.
Democratic consolidation is the process by which a newdemocracy matures, in a way that it becomes unlikely to revert toauthoritarianism without an external shock, and is regarded as the only available system of government within a country.[40][41] A country can be described as consolidated when the current democratic system becomes "the only game in town",[42] meaning no one in the country is trying to act outside of the set institutions.[43] This is the case when no significant political group seriously attempts to overthrow the democratic regime, the democratic system is regarded as the most appropriate way to govern by the vast majority of the public, and all political actors are accustomed to the fact that conflicts are resolved through established political and constitutional rules.[44][45]
Ahybrid regime[b] is a type ofpolitical system often created as a result of an incomplete democratic transition from anauthoritarian regime to ademocratic one (or vice versa).[c] Hybrid regimes are categorized as having a combination ofautocratic features with democratic ones and can simultaneously holdpolitical repressions and regularelections. According to some definitions and measures, hybrid regimes are commonly found indeveloping countries with abundant natural resources such aspetro-states.[55][53][56] Although these regimes experiencecivil unrest, they may be relatively stable and tenacious for decades at a time. There has been a rise in hybrid regimes since the end of theCold War.[57][58]
The democracy indices differ in whether they are categorical, such as classifying countries into democracies,hybrid regimes, andautocracies,[60][61] or continuous values.[62] The qualitative nature of democracy indices enables data analytical approaches for studyingcausal mechanisms of regime transformation processes.
The decline of democratic regime attributes – autocratization
Backsliding entails deterioration of qualities associated with democratic governance, within any regime. In democratic regimes, it is a decline in the quality of democracy; in autocracies, it is a decline in democratic qualities of governance.
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