“The Third Wave” and Non-Liberal Democracies

The purpose of this article is to understand the reality of the third wave of democratization, distinguishing characteristics of the third wave movements in different regions in the world, and to review findings and implications of the world's experiences during the last three decades of the third wave of democratization. The third wave of democratization that initially started in Southern Europe during the 1970s has been diffused all over the world except the Middle Eastern Islamic countries. During the 1980s, Latin America, Asia, and later Central and Eastern Europe joined the tide of democracy, followed by the former Soviet countries and sub-Saharan states during the 1990s.

The movements in various areas have similarities and differences. Regarding the similarities, the first one is that those areas commonly show diversities in each of them. Second, countries under the third wave are facing political, social, and economic difficulties that hinder their transitions to democracy. Third, non-liberal democracy is widely observed among these countries. As to differences, Latin America is far more democratized compared to the past, while militarized politics still restrain political freedom and threaten democratic institutions. Under the movements, Asian countries have a wider spectrum of political regimes, from liberal to totalitarian rules, than Latin American countries. Among the former totalitarian regimes in Europe and the post-Soviet bloc, there is a certain division. In Central Europe the transition is relatively smooth and successful, while the Balkans and the post-Soviet states are facing more difficult obstacles during the transitions. Democracy in Africa, the latest joiner in the wave, has experienced many difficulties because of manipulations of elections, weakness of the opposition, and the severe ethnic cleavages.

Finally, the following can be summarized. First, it is impossible to generalize the movement due to its diversity from area to area. Second, the possibility of returning to the previous regimes is very low in most of cases of the transition, though there's always an exception. Third, one very interesting common aspect in the third wave is the rise and expansion of “non-liberal democracies” in different regions.