The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late

Twentieth Century

The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twen- democracy in one country causes other countries to
tieth Century is a 1991 book by Samuel P. Hunting- democratize.
ton which outlines the significance of a third wave of
democratization to describe the global trend that has • External factors, most notably the efforts to spread
seen more than 60 countries throughout Europe, Latin democracy by the European Union and the United
America, Asia, and Africa undergo some form of demo- States.
cratic transitions since Portugal’s "Carnation Revolution"
in 1974.[1]
International structural factors during the 1970s were
The catch-phrase “the third wave” has been widely used
cited by Huntington as the causal sources for initiating
among scholars studying what is considered by some to
the Third-Wave. Prospects for European Union mem-
be democratic transitions and democratization through-
bership provided the necessary pressure for creating the
out much of the developing world. The phrase however,
critical domestic masses for the push toward democracy
has come under criticism, largely by those who stress that
in Portugal, Spain, and Greece, since the establishment of
so called democratic transitions are little more than tran-
democratic institutions was necessary to secure the eco-
sitions to semi-authoritarian rule, as demanded by the in-
nomic benefits for Community membership. As other au-
ternational realities of a post-cold war world.[2][3]
thors have pointed out, E.U. membership has also func-
tioned to inspire democratic changes in a number of for-
mer Soviet satellites, including Poland, Hungary, and the
1 Transition Czech Republic.[5]
Other international factors also contributed to launching
1.1 Causes the Third-Wave. First, international efforts by states and
activists helped politicise issues such as human rights and
According to Huntington, the rise of the Third Wave is democratisation at the international level. Huntington be-
derived from five main causative factors:[4] lieves that the beginning of the third wave corresponds to
the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, which helped secure com-
• decrease of legitimacy of authoritarian regimes due mitments for human rights and democratic governance
to increased popular expectation of periodic and from Eastern European countries. While this by itself was
competitive election, and/or poor economic perfor- not enough to guarantee democratisation, it did provide
mance or military failure. an easy gauge by which the Soviet Bloc was measured
and criticised. Secondly, by the mid-1970s, the United
• Growth in global economic output helped modern- States began to reformulate its foreign policy. Rather than
ize many less developed economies. Economic supporting any regime that promised loyalty to the west,
modernization, which includes structural changes economic and political support was increasingly premised
like increased rates of urbanization, education, and upon the observance of civil liberties and political rights.
a rising middle class, unleashes a constellation of so-
In addition to the reform pressures from international ac-
cial forces with the organizational capacity and ed-
tors and powerful states as a culprit to the sustenance of
ucation to press for democratic governance.
the third-wave, which transpired from the 1970s through
• Changes in the Catholic Church brought about by to the 1990s, Huntington cites that the “demonstration
Vatican II emphasized individual rights and opposi- effect” is an important factor for explaining the breadth
tion to authoritarian rule. This shift in world view of the third wave. For example, once it was clear that
was especially important for the Catholic countries the reformist Solidarity in Poland would come to power,
of the Mediterranean and Latin America, as well as reformists in other eastern European countries gained en-
the Philippines, Poland and Hungary. ergy to push for change. As the wave swept through East-
ern Europe, African leaders began to see ’the winds of
• Regional Contingency Factor (Snowball effect. For change’ and subsequently redrafted their constitutions to
Soviet equivalent see Domino Theory), also known allow for multiparty elections, fearing that any resistance
as demonstration effects, happens when success of to reforms would lead to an emboldened opposition.

1
2 4 REFERENCES

1.2 Processes [3] Schedler, Andreas. (2002). The Menu of Manipulation.

The Journal of Democracy 13(2)
• Transformation - A top-down (elite-controlled)
[4] Huntington, Samuel P. (1991).
change from within government (as postulated by
the theoreticians of the Modernization theory some [5] Kopstein, Jeffrey and David Reilly A. Geographic Diffu-
30 years ago). sion and the Transformation of the Postcommunist World.
World Politics, 53(2), pp.137
• Transplacement - Negotiated reform of regime and
government.

• Replacement - Regime breakdown (rupture) and the

collapse of authoritarianism.

1.3 Characteristics
• Uncertainty

• Internal factors paramount - Especially important is

role of elites and the ensuing split in the regime.

2 Consolidation

2.1 Problems
• Transitional problems (institution-building)

• Contextual problems.

• Systemic problems (performance of new regime)

Consolidation after “two-turnover test” (Huntington

1991)

2.2 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 subse-
quent consolidation was based on elite pacts and consen-
sus.

3 See also
• Third Wave Democracy

4 References
[1] Huntington, Samuel P. (1991). Democracy’s Third Wave.
The Journal of Democracy, 2(2)

[2] Diamond, Larry. (2002). Thinking About Hybrid

Regimes. The Journal of Democracy, 13(2)
 3

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