Editing Democracy (section)

====20th and 21st centuries====
[[File:Number of nations 1800-2003 scoring 8 or higher on Polity IV scale.png|thumb|The number of nations 1800–2003 scoring 8 or higher on [[Polity IV]] scale, another widely used measure of democracy{{Update inline|date=March 2024}}]]

20th-century transitions to liberal democracy have come in successive "[[waves of democracy]]", variously resulting from wars, revolutions, [[decolonisation]], and religious and economic circumstances.<ref name="NYTimes20150915">{{cite news|last1=Diamond|first1=Larry|title=Timeline: Democracy in Recession|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/09/13/opinion/larry-diamond-democracy-in-recession-timeline.html|access-date=25 January 2016|work=The New York Times|date=15 September 2015}}</ref> Global waves of "democratic regression" reversing democratization, have also occurred in the 1920s and 30s, in the 1960s and 1970s, and in the 2010s.<ref name="Bloomberg20170511" /><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.journalofdemocracy.org/authoreditor/yascha-mounk|title=The Signs of Deconsolidation|last=Mounk|first=Yascha|date=January 2017|access-date=16 May 2017|journal=Journal of Democracy}}</ref>

[[File:Opening of the first parliament.jpg|thumb|right|Painting depicting the opening of the first Australian Parliament in 1901, one of the events that formed part of the [[Waves of democracy#First|first wave of democracy]] in the early 20th century]]

[[World War I]] and the dissolution of the autocratic [[Ottoman empire|Ottoman]] and [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] empires resulted in the creation of new nation-states in Europe, most of them at least nominally democratic. In the 1920s democratic movements flourished and [[Timeline of women's suffrage|women's suffrage]] advanced, but the [[Great Depression]] brought disenchantment and most of the countries of Europe, Latin America, and Asia turned to strong-man rule or dictatorships. [[Fascism]] and dictatorships flourished in [[Nazi Germany]], [[Italy]], [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]], as well as non-democratic governments in the [[Baltics]], the [[Balkans]], [[Brazil]], [[Cuba]], [[China]], and [[Japan]], among others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snl.depaul.edu/contents/current/syllabi/HC_314.doc|title=Age of Dictators: Totalitarianism in the inter-war period|access-date=7 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060907220746/http://www.snl.depaul.edu/contents/current/syllabi/HC_314.doc|archive-date=7 September 2006}}</ref>

[[File:Lev Trotsky 1906-3.3 V1.jpg|250x250px|thumb|left|The [[Saint Petersburg Soviet|Soviet of Workers' Deputies of Saint Petersburg]] in 1905: [[Leon Trotsky]] in the center. The [[soviet (council)|soviets]] were as an early example of a [[workers council]].]]

[[World War II]] brought a definitive reversal of this trend in Western Europe. The [[democratisation]] of the [[Allied Control Council|American, British, and French sectors of occupied Germany]] (disputed<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?a=599|title=Did the United States Create Democracy in Germany?: The Independent Review: The Independent Institute|work=The Independent Institute |publisher=Independent.org|access-date=22 August 2010}}</ref>), Austria, Italy, and the [[occupied Japan]] served as a model for the later theory of [[government change]]. However, most of [[Eastern Europe]], including the [[German Democratic Republic|Soviet sector of Germany]] fell into the non-democratic [[Eastern Bloc|Soviet-dominated bloc]].

The war was followed by [[decolonisation]], and again most of the new independent states had nominally democratic constitutions. [[India]] emerged as the world's largest democracy and continues to be so.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/country_profiles/1154019.stm|title=World &#124; South Asia &#124; Country profiles &#124; Country profile: India|publisher=BBC News|date=7 June 2010|access-date=22 August 2010}}</ref> Countries that were once part of the [[British Empire]] often adopted the British [[Westminster system]].<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Arjomand|editor1-first=Saïd Amir|title=Constitutionalism and political reconstruction|date=2007|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-15174-1|pages=92–94|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYmmnYKEvE0C&pg=PA94|author1=Julian Go|chapter=A Globalizing Constitutionalism?, Views from the Postcolony, 1945–2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=How the Westminster Parliamentary System was exported around the World|url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/how-the-westminster-parliamentary-system-was-exported-around-the-world|publisher=University of Cambridge|access-date=16 December 2013|date=2 December 2013}}</ref>

In 1948, the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] mandated democracy:

{{Blockquote|text=3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.|multiline=yes|source=[https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 21, United Nations, 1948]}}

By 1960, the vast majority of country-states were nominally democracies, although most of the world's populations lived in nominal democracies that experienced sham elections, and other forms of subterfuge (particularly in [[Communist state|"Communist" states]] and the former colonies). A subsequent wave of [[democratisation]] brought substantial gains toward true liberal democracy for many states, dubbed "third wave of democracy". Portugal, Spain, and several of the military dictatorships in South America returned to civilian rule in the 1970s and 1980s.{{refn|group=nb|[[Portuguese transition to democracy|Portugal in 1974]], [[Spanish democratic transition|Spain in 1975]], [[Argentine transition to democracy|Argentina in 1983]], [[History of Bolivia|Bolivia]], [[History of Uruguay|Uruguay in 1984]], [[History of Brazil (1985–present)|Brazil in 1985]], and [[Chilean transition to democracy|Chile in the early 1990s]]}} This was followed by countries in [[East Asia|East]] and [[South Asia]] by the mid-to-late 1980s. Economic malaise in the 1980s, along with resentment of Soviet oppression, contributed to the [[History of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)|collapse of the Soviet Union]], the associated end of the [[Cold War]], and the democratisation and [[liberalisation]] of the former [[Eastern bloc]] countries. The most successful of the new democracies were those geographically and culturally closest to western Europe, and they are now either part of the [[European Union]] or [[Potential enlargement of the European Union|candidate states]]. In 1986, after the toppling of the most prominent Asian dictatorship, the only democratic state of its kind at the time emerged in the [[Philippines]] with the rise of [[Corazon Aquino]], who would later be known as the mother of [[Democracy in Asia|Asian democracy]].

[[File:Corazon Aquino inauguration.jpg|thumb|right|[[Corazon Aquino]] taking the Oath of Office, becoming the first female president in Asia]]

The liberal trend spread to some states in Africa in the 1990s, most prominently in South Africa. Some recent examples of attempts of liberalisation include the [[Indonesian Revolution of 1998]], the [[Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević|Bulldozer Revolution]] in [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], the [[Rose Revolution]] in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], the [[Orange Revolution]] in Ukraine, the [[Cedar Revolution]] in Lebanon, the [[Tulip Revolution]] in [[Kyrgyzstan]], and the [[2010–2011 Tunisian revolution|Jasmine Revolution]] in [[Tunisia]].

[[File:Age of democracies at the end of 2015, OWID.svg|thumb|Age of democracies at the end of 2015<ref>{{cite web|title=Age of democracies at the end of 2015|url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/age-of-democracies|access-date=15 February 2020|website=Our World in Data|archive-date=15 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215230538/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/age-of-democracies|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Update inline|date=March 2024}}]]

According to [[Freedom House]], in 2007 there were 123 electoral democracies (up from 40 in 1972).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=368&year=2007|title=Tables and Charts|publisher=Freedomhouse.org|date=10 May 2004|access-date=22 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090713213025/http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=368&year=2007|archive-date=13 July 2009}}</ref> According to ''World Forum on Democracy'', electoral democracies now represent 120 of the 192 existing countries and constitute 58.2 per cent of the world's population. At the same time liberal democracies i.e. countries Freedom House regards as free and respectful of basic human rights and the rule of law are 85 in number and represent 38 per cent of the global population.<ref>{{Cite web|title=List of Electoral Democracies|url=http://www.fordemocracy.net/electoral.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016184935/http://www.fordemocracy.net/electoral.shtml|archive-date=16 October 2013|website=World Forum on Democracy}}</ref> Also in 2007 the [[United Nations]] declared 15 September the [[International Day of Democracy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/ga10655.doc.htm|title=General Assembly declares 15 September International Day of Democracy; Also elects 18 Members to Economic and Social Council|publisher=United Nations|access-date=22 August 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Nordiska radets presidium haller mote med de nordiska statsministrarna under session i Helsingfors 2008-10-28.jpg|thumb|Meeting of the Grand Committee of the [[Parliament of Finland]] in 2008]]

Many countries reduced their [[voting age]] to 18 years; the major democracies began to do so in the 1970s starting in Western Europe and North America.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bingham|first=Adrian|date=25 June 2019|title='The last milestone' on the journey to full adult suffrage? 50 years of debates about the voting age|url=https://www.historyandpolicy.org/index.php/policy-papers/papers/the-last-milestone-on-the-journey-to-full-adult-suffrage|access-date=2022-12-31|website=History & Policy}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=January 2023|reason=This is about the 1960s, not the 1970s.}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Archives of Maryland, Volume 0138, Page 0051 – Constitutional Revision Study Documents of the Constitutional Convention Commission, 1968|url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000138/html/am138--51.html|access-date=2023-01-03|website=msa.maryland.gov}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Sanders|first=Mark|title=Your Right To Vote|date=2000|publisher=Raintree Steck- Vaugh company|location=United States}}</ref> Most electoral democracies continue to exclude those younger than 18 from voting.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wall|first=John|date=October 2014|title=Democratising democracy: the road from women's to children's suffrage|url=https://johnwall.camden.rutgers.edu/files/2014/10/Democratising-Democracy-The-Road-from-Womens-to-Childrens-Suffrage1.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420200500/http://johnwall.camden.rutgers.edu/files/2014/10/Democratising-Democracy-The-Road-from-Womens-to-Childrens-Suffrage1.pdf|archive-date=2017-04-20|url-status=live|journal=The International Journal of Human Rights|volume=18|issue=6|pages=646–59|doi=10.1080/13642987.2014.944807|s2cid=144895426|via=Rutgers University}}</ref> The voting age has been lowered to 16 for national elections in a number of countries, including Brazil, Austria, Cuba, and Nicaragua. In California, a 2004 proposal to permit a quarter vote at 14 and a half vote at 16 was ultimately defeated. In 2008, the German parliament proposed but shelved a bill that would grant the vote to each citizen at birth, to be used by a parent until the child claims it for themselves.

According to Freedom House, starting in 2005, there have been 17 consecutive years in which declines in political rights and civil liberties throughout the world have outnumbered improvements,<ref name="freedom-world-2017" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=2023-07-16|title=Biden Says Democracy Is Winning. It's Not That Simple.|publisher=Bloomberg|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-07-16/is-biden-right-that-us-democracy-is-beating-china-and-russia|access-date=2023-07-19}}</ref> as [[Populism|populist]] and [[Nationalism|nationalist]] political forces have gained ground everywhere from Poland (under the [[Law and Justice]] party) to the Philippines (under [[Rodrigo Duterte]]).<ref name="freedom-world-2017" /><ref name="Bloomberg20170511" /> In a Freedom House report released in 2018, Democracy Scores for most countries declined for the 12th consecutive year.<ref>[https://www.voanews.com/a/freedom-house-reports-decrease-in-democratic-principles/4209557.html "Freedom House: Democracy Scores for Most Countries Decline for 12th Consecutive Year"], VOA News, 16 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.</ref> ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' reported that [[nationalist]] and [[populist]] political ideologies were gaining ground, at the expense of [[rule of law]], in countries like Poland, Turkey and Hungary. For example, in Poland, the President [[2015–present Polish constitutional crisis|appointed 27 new Supreme Court judges]] over legal objections from the [[European Commission]]. In Turkey, thousands of judges were removed from their positions following a [[2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt|failed coup attempt]] during a [[2016–present purges in Turkey|government crackdown]] .<ref>{{Cite news|issn=0882-7729|title=As populism rises, fragile democracies move to weaken their courts|work=The Christian Science Monitor|access-date=14 November 2018|date=13 November 2018|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2018/1113/As-populism-rises-fragile-democracies-move-to-weaken-their-courts}}</ref>

[[File:Countries democratizing or autocratizing substantially and significantly 2010–2020.svg|thumb|Countries autocratising (red) or democratising (blue) substantially and significantly (2010–2020). Countries in grey are substantially unchanged.<ref>Nazifa Alizada, Rowan Cole, Lisa Gastaldi, Sandra Grahn, Sebastian Hellmeier, Palina Kolvani, Jean Lachapelle, Anna Lührmann, Seraphine F.    Maerz, Shreeya Pillai, and Staffan I. Lindberg. 2021. Autocratization Turns Viral. Democracy Report 2021. University of Gothenburg: V-Dem Institute. https://www.v-dem.net/media/filer_public/74/8c/748c68ad-f224-4cd7-87f9-8794add5c60f/dr_2021_updated.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914030243/https://www.v-dem.net/media/filer_public/74/8c/748c68ad-f224-4cd7-87f9-8794add5c60f/dr_2021_updated.pdf|date=14 September 2021 }}</ref>{{Update inline|date=March 2024}}{{Relevant|discuss=This map, at a glance, might be mistaken for countries that are or are not democracies (like all other maps) as opposed to trends|date=March 2024}}]]

"[[Democratic backsliding]]" in the 2010s were attributed to economic inequality and social discontent,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Greskovitz|first=Béla|date=2015|title=The Hollowing and Backsliding of Democracy in East-Central Europe|journal=Global Policy|volume=6|issue=1|pages=28–37|doi=10.1111/1758-5899.12225}}</ref> personalism,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rhodes-Purdy|first1=Matthew|last2=Madrid|first2=Raúl L.|date=27 November 2019|title=The perils of personalism|journal=Democratization|volume=27|issue=2|pages=321–339|doi=10.1080/13510347.2019.1696310|s2cid=212974380|issn=1351-0347}}</ref> poor government's management of the [[Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics|COVID-19 pandemic]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.idea.int/news-media/multimedia-reports/global-overview-covid-19-impact-elections|title=Global overview of COVID-19: Impact on elections|website=idea.int|access-date=28 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Democracy under Lockdown|publisher=Freedom House|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-report/2020/democracy-under-lockdown|access-date=28 January 2021|first1=Sarah|last1=Repucci|first2=Amy|last2=Slipowitz}}</ref> as well as other factors such as manipulation of civil society, "toxic polarization", foreign disinformation campaigns,<ref name="2019VDem">{{Cite report|url=https://www.v-dem.net/media/filer_public/99/de/99dedd73-f8bc-484c-8b91-44ba601b6e6b/v-dem_democracy_report_2019.pdf|title=Democracy Facing Global Challenges: V-Dem Annual Democracy Report 2019|publisher=V-Dem Institute at the [[University of Gothenburg]]|date=May 2019|access-date=26 April 2021|archive-date=5 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605230333/https://www.v-dem.net/media/filer_public/99/de/99dedd73-f8bc-484c-8b91-44ba601b6e6b/v-dem_democracy_report_2019.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> racism and nativism, excessive executive power,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mettler|first=Suzanne|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1155487679|title=Four Threats: The Recurring Crises of American Democracy|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-250-24442-0|location=New York|oclc=1155487679}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=History tells us there are four key threats to U.S. democracy|author=Farrell, Henry|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=14 August 2020|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/14/history-tells-us-there-are-four-key-threats-us-democracy/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Lieberman|first=By Suzanne Mettler and Robert C.|date=10 August 2020|title=The Fragile Republic|url=https://reader.foreignaffairs.com/2020/08/10/the-fragile-republic/content.html|access-date=15 August 2020|website=Foreign Affairs}}</ref> and decreased power of the opposition.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Haggard|first1=Stephan|last2=Kaufman|first2=Robert|date=2021|title=Backsliding: Democratic Regress in the Contemporary World|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/backsliding/CCD2F28FB63A56409FF8911351F2E937|access-date=21 January 2021|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/9781108957809|isbn=978-1-108-95780-9|s2cid=242013001}}</ref> Within English-speaking Western democracies, "protection-based" attitudes combining cultural conservatism and leftist economic attitudes were the strongest predictor of support for authoritarian modes of governance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Malka|first1=Ariel|last2=Lelkes|first2=Yphtach|last3=Bakker|first3=Bert N.|last4=Spivack|first4=Eliyahu|date=2020|title=Who Is Open to Authoritarian Governance within Western Democracies?|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/who-is-open-to-authoritarian-governance-within-western-democracies/0ADCD5FFE5B7E9267E8283C7561FB6BE|journal=Perspectives on Politics|volume=20|issue=3|pages=808–827|doi=10.1017/S1537592720002091|s2cid=225207244|issn=1537-5927}}</ref>