The Third Wave of Democratization 4649843 223505763 2008-07-04T10:44:59Z Ghormax 31336 {{Cleanup|date=August 2006}} '''''The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century''''' is a 1991 book by [[Samuel P. Huntington]] which outlines the significance of a third wave of democratization to describe the global trend that has seen more than 60 countries experience democratic transitions since [[1974]]. ==Transition== ===Causes=== Five main causative factors are outlined for the Third Wave: *Loss of [[legitimacy]] of authoritarian regimes *Economic change- there is a correlation between wealth and democracy [This is a contested and very Western idea] *[[Catholic church]]- changes brought about by Vatican II emphasized individual rights *Regional Contingency Factor (Snowball effect)- also known as demonstrational effects, happens when success of democracy in one country causes other countries to democratize *External factors- efforts to spread democracy mostly from European institution and the United States ===Processes=== *Transformation - A top-down (elite-controlled) change from within government (as postulated by the theoreticians of the Modernization theory some 30 years ago). *Transplacement - Negotiated reform of regime and government. *Replacement - Regime breakdown (ruptura) and the collapse of [[authoritarianism]]. ===Characteristics=== *Uncertainty *Internal factors paramount - Especially important is role of elites and the ensuing split in the regime. ==Consolidation== ===Problems=== *Transitional problems (institution-building) *Contextual problems. *Systemic problems (performance of new regime) Consolidation after "two-turnover test" (Huntington 1991) ===Elites=== Huntington believed in the importance of individual agents in the transition to [[democracy]]: “democracies are created not by causes but by causers” (Huntington 1991:107). To Huntington the transition was based on [[elite]] choice, perception, beliefs and actions, while subsequent consolidation was based on elite pacts and consensus. ==Criticisms== ===Separation of political analysis from socio-economic environment=== *Poverty, social exclusion and inequality *Accusations of democracy without citizenship/ of disempowerment *Role of [[IFIs]] ===Relationship between structure and agent, institutions and process=== *Overemphasis on agency rather than structure (See Rueschemeyer, Stephens and Stephens 1992) ===Dichotomy between authoritarianism and democracy=== *Enclaves of authoritarian power? ===Ideological Bias=== *[[Ethnocentric]] - "the United States is the premier democratic country of the modern world" and the “major promoter of democratization” (Huntington 1991:30 & 6) *Endorsement of limited model of [[market democracy]] *Lack of ecological validity in theory, as ethnocentrism means interpretation of third world is bias also. ===Lack of analysis of external factors=== General view - Contributory but insufficient condition for democratization US - “the major promoter of democratization” (Huntington 1991:6) or “much more effective at destabilizing democracies than at stabilizing popularly elected rulers” (Borón 1995:213) iii