A Comparative Analysis of Democratic Consolidations After the Third Wave of Democratization

Abstract

This paper investigates how democratic consolidations take place in emerging democracies. Series of annual “Freedom in the World Country Rating” are used as indices of democratization while “World Survey Value” data are analyzed to measure the democratic value of each country. The results show that consolidations in emerging democracies have progressed as a whole in the last fifteen years. It is also found that the types of their pre-democratization regimes and the processes of democratization influenced the democratic consolidation. Among the authoritarian regimes, one-party systems are easiest to achieve democratic consolidation after the regime transition. Conversely, military regimes have difficulties to achieve stable democracy. The more people participate actively in the process of democratization, the smoother the regimes consolidated democracy. Relationship between democratic consolidation and economic development was also examined. The results show that not only high income but also high economic growth correlated with democratic consolidation. Although it is not the main concern of this paper, among independent variables in democratic regime and economic achievement, economic growth seems to be a key factor in democratic consolidation. Finally, democratic values are compared among emerging democracies and traditional democratic countries. It is found that people’s positive evaluation to the democratic system and its performance play a crucial role in consolidating democracy.