Editing Democratization (section)

=== International factors ===
==== War and national security ====
[[Jeffrey Herbst]], in his paper "War and the State in Africa" (1990), explains how democratization in European states was achieved through political development fostered by war-making and these "lessons from the case of Europe show that war is an important cause of [[state formation]] that is missing in Africa today."<ref name=Herbst>Herbst, Jeffrey. "War and the State in Africa." ''International Security'' (1990): 117–139.</ref> Herbst writes that war and the threat of invasion by neighbors caused European state to more efficiently collect revenue, forced leaders to improve administrative capabilities, and fostered state unification and a sense of national identity (a common, powerful association between the state and its citizens).<ref name=Herbst/> Herbst writes that in Africa and elsewhere in the non-European world "states are developing in a fundamentally new environment" because they mostly "gained Independence without having to resort to combat and have not faced a security threat since independence."<ref name=Herbst/> Herbst notes that the strongest non-European states, [[South Korea]] and [[Taiwan]], are "largely 'warfare' states that have been molded, in part, by the near constant threat of external aggression."<ref name=Herbst/>

Elizabeth Kier has challenged claims that total war prompts democratization, showing in the cases of the UK and Italy during World War I that the policies adopted by the Italian government during World War I prompted a fascist backlash whereas UK government policies towards labor undermined broader democratization.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kier|first=Elizabeth|title=War and Democracy: Labor and the Politics of Peace|date=2021|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-1-5017-5640-5|jstor=10.7591/j.ctv16pn3kw}}</ref>

==== War and peace ====
{{main|Territorial peace theory}}
[[File:War Office Second World War Official Collection B11634.jpg|thumb|Two British Marine Commandos take protection behind debris during the capture of Walcheren Island during World War II. The link between war and democratization has been a focus of some theories.]]
Wars may contribute to the [[state-building]] that precedes a transition to democracy, but war is mainly a serious obstacle to democratization. While adherents of the [[democratic peace theory]] believe that democracy causes peace, the [[territorial peace theory]] makes the opposite claim that peace causes democracy. In fact, war and territorial threats to a country are likely to increase [[authoritarianism]] and lead to autocracy. 
This is supported by historical evidence showing that in almost all cases, peace has come before democracy. A number of scholars have argued that there is little support for the hypothesis that democracy causes peace, but strong evidence for the opposite hypothesis that peace leads to democracy.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gibler |first1=Douglas M. |last2=Owsiak |first2=Andrew |title=Democracy and the Settlement of International Borders, 1919–2001 |journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution |volume=62 |issue=9 |pages=1847–1875 |date=2017 |doi=10.1177/0022002717708599|s2cid=158036471 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gat |first1=Azar |title=The Causes of War and the Spread of Peace: Will War Rebound? |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ray |first1=James Lee |title=Does Democracy Cause Peace? |journal=[[Annual Review of Political Science]] |date=1998 |volume=1 |pages=27–46 |doi=10.1146/annurev.polisci.1.1.27}}</ref>

[[Christian Welzel|Christian Welzel's]] [[Freedom Rising|human empowerment theory]] posits that existential security leads to emancipative cultural values and support for a democratic political organization.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Welzel |first1=Christian |title=Freedom Rising: Human Empowerment and the Quest for Emancipation |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> This is in agreement with theories based on [[evolutionary psychology]]. The so-called [[Theory of Regal and Kungic Societal Structures|regality theory]] finds that people develop a psychological preference for a strong leader and an [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] form of government in situations of war or perceived collective danger. On the other hand, people will support [[egalitarianism|egalitarian]] values and a preference for democracy in situations of peace and safety. The consequence of this is that a society will develop in the direction of [[autocracy]] and an authoritarian government when people perceive collective danger, while the development in the democratic direction requires collective safety.<ref name="Fog2017">{{cite book |last1=Fog |first1=Agner |date=2017 |title=Warlike and Peaceful Societies: The Interaction of Genes and Culture |publisher=Open Book Publishers |doi=10.11647/OBP.0128 |isbn=978-1-78374-403-9 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== International institutions ====
A number of studies have found that international institutions have helped facilitate democratization.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pevehouse|first=Jon C.|date=2002|title=Democracy from the Outside-In? International Organizations and Democratization|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/abs/democracy-from-the-outsidein-international-organizations-and-democratization/E3F63B3207C1282FA3A8146F2D792DFB|journal=International Organization|language=en|volume=56|issue=3|pages=515–549|doi=10.1162/002081802760199872|s2cid=154702046|issn=1531-5088|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mansfield|first1=Edward D.|last2=Pevehouse|first2=Jon C.|date=2006|title=Democratization and International Organizations|journal=International Organization|language=en|volume=60|issue=1|pages=137–167|doi=10.1017/S002081830606005X|doi-broken-date=2024-11-15 |issn=1531-5088|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hafner-Burton|first=Emilie M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjrQ6YQC6d8C|title=Forced to Be Good: Why Trade Agreements Boost Human Rights|date=2011|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-5746-3|language=en}}</ref> [[Thomas Risse]] wrote in 2009, "there is a consensus in the literature on Eastern Europe that the [[Member state of the European Union|EU membership]] perspective had a huge anchoring effects for [[Enlargement of the European Union|the new democracies]]."<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last=Risse|first=Thomas|url=https://archive.org/details/promotingdemocra00mage|title=Promoting Democracy and the Rule of Law: American and European Strategies |date=2009 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-0-230-24452-8|editor-last=Magen|editor-first=Amichai|series=Governance and Limited Statehood Series|pages=[https://archive.org/details/promotingdemocra00mage/page/n262 244]–271|chapter=Conclusions: Towards Transatlantic Democracy Promotion? |doi=10.1057/9780230244528_9|editor2-last=Risse|editor2-first=Thomas|editor3-last=McFaul|editor3-first=Michael A.|url-access=limited}}</ref> Scholars have also linked [[NATO expansion]] with playing a role in democratization.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Poast|first1=Paul|last2=Chinchilla|first2=Alexandra|date=2020|title=Good for democracy? Evidence from the 2004 NATO expansion|journal=International Politics|volume=57|issue=3|pages=471–490|doi=10.1057/s41311-020-00236-6|issn=1740-3898|s2cid=219012478}}</ref> international forces can significantly affect democratization. Global forces like the diffusion of democratic ideas and pressure from international financial institutions to democratize have led to democratization.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Geddes |first1=Barbara |title=The Oxford Handbook of Political Science |chapter=What Causes Democratization |date=7 July 2011 |pages=593–615 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199604456.013.0029|isbn=978-0-19-960445-6 }}</ref>

==== Promotion, foreign influence, and intervention ====
{{main|Democracy promotion}}
The European Union has contributed to the spread of democracy, in particular by encouraging democratic reforms in aspiring member states. [[Thomas Risse]] wrote in 2009, "there is a consensus in the literature on Eastern Europe that the EU membership perspective had a huge anchoring effects for the new democracies."<ref name=":22" />

[[Steven Levitsky]] and Lucan Way have argued that close ties to the West increased the likelihood of democratization after the end of the Cold War, whereas states with weak ties to the West adopted [[Illiberal democracy|competitive authoritarian]] regimes.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Levitsky|first1=Steven|last2=Way|first2=Lucan|date=2005-07-27|title=International Linkage and Democratization|journal=Journal of Democracy|language=en|volume=16|issue=3|pages=20–34|doi=10.1353/jod.2005.0048|s2cid=154397302|issn=1086-3214}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/competitive-authoritarianism/20A51BE2EBAB59B8AAEFD91B8FA3C9D6|title=Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War|last1=Levitsky|first1=Steven|last2=Way|first2=Lucan A.|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511781353|isbn=9780511781353}}</ref>

A 2002 study found that membership in [[regional organization]]s "is correlated with transitions to democracy during the period from 1950 to 1992."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pevehouse|first=Jon C.|date=2002-06-01|title=Democracy from the Outside-In? International Organizations and Democratization|journal=International Organization|volume=56|issue=3|pages=515–549|doi=10.1162/002081802760199872|s2cid=154702046|issn=1531-5088}}</ref>

A 2004 study found no evidence that foreign aid led to democratization.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Knack|first=Stephen|date=2004-03-01|title=Does Foreign Aid Promote Democracy?|journal=International Studies Quarterly|language=en|volume=48|issue=1|pages=251–266|doi=10.1111/j.0020-8833.2004.00299.x|issn=0020-8833|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Democracies have often been imposed by military intervention, for example in [[Occupation of Japan|Japan]] and [[Occupation of Germany|Germany]] [[Aftermath of World War II|after World War II]].<ref name="GT">{{cite journal|last=Therborn|first=Göran|author-link=Göran Therborn|date=May–June 1977 |title=The rule of capital and the rise of democracy |url=https://newleftreview.org/issues/i103/articles/goran-therborn-the-rule-of-capital-and-the-rise-of-democracy |url-access=subscription |journal=[[New Left Review]] |number=103 |pages=3–41}}</ref><ref>[http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=47&articleID=599 ''The Independent'']</ref> In other cases, [[decolonization]] sometimes facilitated the establishment of democracies that were soon replaced by authoritarian regimes. For example, Syria, after gaining independence from [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|French mandatory control]] at the beginning of the [[Cold War]], failed to [[Democratic consolidation|consolidate]] its democracy, so it eventually collapsed and was replaced by a [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Ba'athist dictatorship]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Krokowska|first1=Katarzyna|year=2011|title=The Fall of Democracy in Syria|url=http://sam.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/katarzyna_krokowska.pdf|journal=Perceptions|access-date=2016-02-13|archive-date=2017-03-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312042938/http://sam.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/katarzyna_krokowska.pdf}}</ref>

Robert Dahl argued in ''On Democracy'' that foreign interventions contributed to democratic failures, citing Soviet interventions in Central and Eastern Europe and U.S. interventions in Latin America.<ref name=":4" /> However, the delegitimization of empires contributed to the emergence of democracy as former colonies gained independence and implemented democracy.<ref name=":4" />

==== Geographic factors ====
Some scholars link the emergence and sustenance of democracies to areas with access to the sea, which tends to increase the mobility of people, goods, capital, and ideas.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gerring |first1=John |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/deep-roots-of-modern-democracy/6AA764716C8F6BC7FF8A64F6CA2DA565 |title=The Deep Roots of Modern Democracy: Geography and the Diffusion of Political Institutions |last2=Apfeld |first2=Brendan |last3=Wig |first3=Tore |last4=Tollefsen |first4=Andreas Forø |date=2022 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-10037-3 |doi=10.1017/9781009115223|s2cid=252021781 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Deudney |first=Daniel H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NalIdFN65e8C |title=Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village |date=2007 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3727-4 |language=en}}</ref>