democratic transition

{{Short description|Specific phase in a political system}}

File:Number of countries experiencing autocratization and democratization, 1900–2000.jpg (blue) is higher than those democratizing (yellow).]]

A democratic transition describes a phase in a country's political system as a result of an ongoing change from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one.{{cite book | last=Arugay | first=Aries A. | title=The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies | chapter=Democratic Transitions | publisher=Springer International Publishing | publication-place=Cham | year=2021 | isbn=978-3-319-74336-3 | doi=10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_190-1 | pages=1–7| s2cid=240235199 }}{{cite book | last=Munck | first=G.L. | title=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences | chapter=Democratic Transitions | publisher=Elsevier | year=2001 | doi=10.1016/b0-08-043076-7/01135-9 | pages=3425–3428| isbn=9780080430768 }}{{cite journal | last1=Cassani | first1=Andrea | last2=Tomini | first2=Luca | title=Authoritarian resurgence: towards a unified analytical framework | journal=Italian Political Science Review/Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica | publisher=Cambridge University Press (CUP) | volume=49 | issue=2 | year=2019 | issn=0048-8402 | doi=10.1017/ipo.2019.14 | pages=115–120| s2cid=199298876 | hdl=2434/666535 | hdl-access=free }} The process is known as democratisation, political changes moving in a democratic direction.{{cite journal | last=Huntington | first=Samuel P. | title=How Countries Democratize | journal=Political Science Quarterly | publisher=[The Academy of Political Science, Wiley] | volume=124 | issue=1 | year=2009 | issn=0032-3195 | jstor=25655609 | pages=31–69 | doi=10.1002/j.1538-165X.2009.tb00641.x | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25655609 | access-date=2023-04-17| url-access=subscription }} 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.{{Cite journal|last=Gunitsky|first=Seva|date=2014|title=From Shocks to Waves: Hegemonic Transitions and Democratization in the Twentieth Century|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/from-shocks-to-waves-hegemonic-transitions-and-democratization-in-the-twentieth-century/DC80A16B8DE79A7498B82B7F80FBE111|journal=International Organization|language=en|volume=68|issue=3|pages=561–597|doi=10.1017/S0020818314000113|s2cid=232254486|issn=0020-8183|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite book|url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172330/aftershocks|title=Aftershocks|last=Gunitsky|first=Seva|date=2017|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-17233-0}} Although transitional regimes experience more civil unrest,{{cite journal | last1=Cook | first1=Scott J | last2=Savun | first2=Burcu | title=New democracies and the risk of civil conflict | journal=Journal of Peace Research | publisher=SAGE Publications | volume=53 | issue=6 | year=2016 | issn=0022-3433 | doi=10.1177/0022343316660756 | pages=745–757| s2cid=114918000 }}{{cite book | last1=Crocker | first1=C.A. | last2=Hampson | first2=F.O. | last3=Aall | first3=P. | title=Managing Conflict in a World Adrift | publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-928096-48-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hz1mDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA156 | access-date=2023-04-23 | page=156}} they may be considered stable in a transitional phase for decades at a time.{{cite journal | last=Sönmez | first=Hakan | title=Democratic Backsliding or Stabilization? | journal=Politikon: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science | publisher=International Association for Political Science Students | volume=46 | date=2020-09-30 | issn=2414-6633 | doi=10.22151/politikon.46.3 | pages=54–78| doi-access=free }}{{cite journal | last=Geddes | first=Barbara | title=What Do We Know About Democratization After Twenty Years? | journal=Annual Review of Political Science | publisher=Annual Reviews | volume=2 | issue=1 | year=1999 | issn=1094-2939 | doi=10.1146/annurev.polisci.2.1.115 | pages=115–144| doi-access=free }}{{cite journal | last=Törnberg | first=Anton | title=Combining transition studies and social movement theory: towards a new research agenda | journal=Theory and Society | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=47 | issue=3 | year=2018 | issn=0304-2421 | doi=10.1007/s11186-018-9318-6 | pages=381–408| s2cid=255015393 | doi-access=free }} Since the end of the Cold War transitional regimes have become the most common form of government.{{cite book | author1 = Leonardo Morlino | author2 = Dirk Berg-Schlosser | author3 = Bertrand Badie | date = 6 March 2017 | title = Political Science: A Global Perspective | publisher = SAGE | pages = 112– | isbn = 978-1-5264-1303-1 | oclc = 1124515503 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qhcjDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA112}}{{cite journal | last=Brownlee | first=Jason | title=Portents of Pluralism: How Hybrid Regimes Affect Democratic Transitions | journal=American Journal of Political Science | publisher=[Midwest Political Science Association, Wiley] | volume=53 | issue=3 | year=2009 | issn=0092-5853| jstor=25548135 | pages=515–532 | doi=10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00384.x | doi-access=free }} Scholarly analysis of the decorative nature of democratic institutions concludes that the opposite democratic backsliding (autocratization), a transition to authoritarianism is the most prevalent basis of modern hybrid regimes.{{cite web | title=Home - IDEA Global State of Democracy Report | website=International IDEA | url=https://www.idea.int/gsod/ | access-date=Nov 26, 2022}}{{cite journal | last=Hameed | first=Dr. Muntasser Majeed | title=Hybrid regimes: An Overview | journal=IPRI Journal | publisher=Islamabad Policy Research Institute - IPRI | volume=22 | issue=1 | date=Jun 30, 2022 | issn=1684-9787 | doi=10.31945/iprij.220101 | pages=1–24| s2cid=251173436 | doi-access=free }}{{cite book | last=Caballero-Anthony | first=M. | title=Political Change, Democratic Transitions and Security in Southeast Asia | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Routledge Security in Asia Pacific Series | year=2009 | isbn=978-1-135-26840-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VdONAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 | access-date=2023-04-27 | page=7}}