Glossary Democratisation

All technical terms of the article The History of the Transformation from Authoritarian Societies to Pluralist Democracies in alphabetical order. The number at the end names the section in which the term is introduced; “Introduction” refers to the beginning of the article.

0–9

3.5 per cent rule – observation by Erica Chenoweth: no non-violent campaign in which at least 3.5 per cent of the population took an active part at its peak failed between 1900 and 2006; qualified by her in 2020 as an observation with exceptions, not a law. 7

A

Arab Spring – wave of protests in the Arab world from December 2010, set off in Tunisia; toppled Ben Ali and Mubarak, led to civil war in Syria and brought democracy only to Tunisia, which President Saied dismantled again from 2021. 7
Article 7 procedure – procedure under Article 7 of the EU Treaty against a member state that endangers the common values such as democracy and the rule of law; opened against Hungary by the European Parliament on 12 September 2018. 8
authoritarian regime – rule that does not submit to open competition: the government cannot be voted out, and whoever objects risks office, freedom or life; counterpart of pluralist democracy. Introduction
autocratisation – the dismantling of a country’s democratic qualities, gradual or sudden; according to Lührmann and Lindberg (2019) a third wave has been under way since about 1994, mostly driven by elected politicians under a legal façade. 8

B

Basic Law – the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, written by the Parliamentary Council in 1948/49 and promulgated on 23 May 1949; with eternity clause, party ban, forfeiture of basic rights and constructive vote of no confidence as lessons from Weimar. 4
Bill of Rights – English statute of 1689 after the Glorious Revolution: free election of members of parliament, freedom of speech in parliament, frequent parliaments; limited the crown through parliament. The first ten amendments to the American constitution (1791) bear the same name. 1
black knights – countervailing powers that stand by a regime economically, militarily or diplomatically and so soften American or European pressure; a term Levitsky and Way took from Hufbauer and colleagues; after the Cold War at times Russia, China, Japan, France and South Africa. 9
bureaucratic authoritarianism – Guillermo O’Donnell’s term (1973) for the military dictatorships of South America in the 1960s and 1970s, in which officers and technocrats ran the country by the logic of a business; counter-thesis to the modernisation thesis. 4

C

Carnation Revolution – the upheaval in Portugal on 25 April 1974 by the Armed Forces Movement; named after the carnations in the soldiers’ rifle barrels, the start of the third wave. 5
checks and balances – an order of mutual control in which the powers restrain each other; in Madison’s words, ambition must be made to counteract ambition (Federalist No. 51, 1788). 2
citizens’ assembly – body of randomly selected citizens that deliberates on a question and makes recommendations but does not decide; in Ireland a citizens’ assembly prepared in 2016 and 2017 the referendum of 25 May 2018 on the ban on abortion. 8
civil resistance – non-violent struggle against a government through demonstrations, strikes, boycotts and refusal; according to Chenoweth and Stephan twice as often successful as violent insurgency between 1900 and 2006. 7
closed autocracy – regime type at V-Dem: no multiparty election for the government; in 2025 in 35 countries with 28 per cent of the world’s population. 8
colour revolution – collective name for the non-violent overthrows after rigged elections in Serbia 2000, Georgia 2003, Ukraine 2004 and Kyrgyzstan 2005, named after the colours and flowers of their supporters. 7
competitive authoritarianism – term of Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way (2002) for regimes that are authoritarian at the core but in which elections remain a real path to power; in their 2010 book they counted 35 for the early 1990s. 7
conditionality – the linking of benefits such as EU accession or payments to conditions such as democracy and the rule of law; became an instrument of enlargement with the Copenhagen criteria of 1993. 6
conditionality mechanism – EU procedure to tie payments from the budget to respect for the rule of law; applied against Hungary in 2022; the Council lifted the measures on 13 October 2026. 8
consent of the governed – John Locke’s principle (1689/90) that no one can be subjected to political power without his own consent; taken into the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. 1
consolidation – the securing of a democracy; according to Linz and Stepan (1996) reached when it is “the only game in town” behaviourally, attitudinally and constitutionally. 7
constructive vote of no confidence – Article 67 of the Basic Law: the Bundestag can remove the chancellor only by electing a successor with the majority of its members; the answer to the Weimar majorities that could topple but not govern. 4
Copenhagen criteria – conditions for joining the EU, adopted by the European Council in June 1993: stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the protection of minorities, plus a functioning market economy. 6

D

decolonisation – the end of the European colonial empires after 1945; India gave itself a democratic constitution in 1950, and in 1960 17 African colonies became independent. 4
democratic recession – Larry Diamond’s term (2015) for the mild but protracted decline of democracy in the world since about 2006. 8
denazification – Allied policy after 1945 of removing supporters of National Socialism from office and influence; in the American zone with a questionnaire of 131 questions and from 1946 with German tribunals and five groups from major offenders to exonerated. 4
disloyal opposition – in Juan Linz (1978) an opposition that questions the existence of the democratic order itself. 3

E

election observation – the assessment of elections by independent observers on the spot; in Europe since 1990/92 chiefly by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. 6
electoral authoritarianism – Andreas Schedler’s term (2006) for regimes that hold elections but distort the competition so that they do not lose; the most common regime type of the developing world. 7
electoral autocracy – regime type at V-Dem: there are multiparty elections, but they are not free and fair; in 2025 in 57 countries with 46 per cent of the world’s population, the most common type. 8
electoral democracy – regime type at V-Dem: free and fair elections, but weaknesses in the rule of law, checks on the government or civil liberties; in 2025 in 56 countries, in the 2026 report for the first time including the United States. 8
emergency decree – decree of the Reich President under Article 48 of the Weimar constitution, with which he could act without parliament when public security was endangered; from 1930 the means of governing past the Reichstag. 3
Enabling Act – law of 23 March 1933 that allowed the Hitler government to issue laws without the Reichstag; passed by 444 votes against the 94 of the SPD, while deputies of the KPD and SPD had been arrested or had fled. 3
end of history – Francis Fukuyama’s thesis (1989) that Western liberal democracy might be the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution; posed as a question, read as a claim. 6
eternity clause – Article 79(3) of the Basic Law: no constitutional amendment may affect the division into Länder or the principles of Articles 1 and 20, that is human dignity, democracy, the rule of law and the social state. 4
European Convention on Human Rights – treaty of the members of the Council of Europe on basic and human rights, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950, in force since 3 September 1953. 4
executive aggrandizement – Nancy Bermeo’s term (2016) for the gradual self-empowerment of elected governments that dismantle the checks on their power, each single measure legally justified. 8

F

faction – in James Madison (Federalist No. 10, 1787) a group of citizens, whether majority or minority, pursuing an interest adverse to the rights of others or of the whole; not to be abolished, but to be tamed by their multiplicity in a large republic. 2
forfeiture of basic rights – Article 18 of the Basic Law: whoever abuses basic rights such as freedom of opinion, of the press or of assembly to fight the free democratic basic order forfeits them; pronounced only by the Federal Constitutional Court. 4

G

gatekeeper – in Levitsky and Ziblatt (2018) the role of the parties: to recognise extremists early and keep them away from power instead of thinking them controllable and making pacts with them. 9
general will – in Rousseau (1762) the will of the people as a whole, which alone may make laws; radically democratic, but in tension with pluralism, because it presupposes a right will. 1

H

hardliner – in O’Donnell and Schmitter (1986) the forces in the authoritarian regime that consider its continuation possible and desirable and are prepared to use force if need be. 5
hybrid regime – an order between dictatorship and liberal democracy, with elections and parties but without fair competition; Larry Diamond’s term (2002). 7

I

illiberal democracy – Fareed Zakaria’s term (1997) for elected governments that disregard the limits of their constitution and deprive citizens of basic rights; in 2014 Viktor Orbán announced an “illiberal state”. 7
institutional forbearance – according to Levitsky and Ziblatt (2018) the second unwritten rule of democracy: not using rights that formally belong to one to the hilt. 8

L

legal revolution – historians’ term for the National Socialist seizure of power in 1933, which overturned the state while stressing a supposedly legal course following the constitution. 3
leverage – in Levitsky and Way (2005) a government’s vulnerability to outside pressure, for instance through diplomacy or conditions attached to aid; on its own it rarely democratised, they found. 9
liberal democracy – regime type at V-Dem: free and fair elections plus rule of law, checks on the government and secured civil liberties; in 2025 in 31 countries with 7 per cent of the world’s population. 8
linkage – in Levitsky and Way (2005) the density of a country’s ties to the United States, the EU and Western-led institutions; according to them it contributed more consistently to democratisation than pressure; where it was high, no competitive authoritarian government survived through 2005. 9

M

Magna Carta – charter sealed by King John of England at Runnymede on 15 June 1215; its clause 39 protected free men from arbitrary treatment without judgment or law and placed the king under the law. 1
militant democracy – a democracy that protects itself against its enemies by legal means, for example through party bans and the forfeiture of basic rights; Karl Loewenstein’s idea (1937), a principle of the Basic Law. 3
modernisation thesis – thesis of Seymour Martin Lipset (1959): the more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances that it will sustain democracy. 4
Moncloa Pacts – agreements of the Spanish government with the parties of 25 October 1977 against inflation and unemployment; an example of the negotiations of the Transición. 5
mutual toleration – according to Levitsky and Ziblatt (2018) one of the two unwritten rules of democracy: rivals accept each other as legitimate opponents, not as enemies. 8

N

negative majority – a majority in parliament that can topple any government but form none; in the Reichstag from July 1932, made up of NSDAP and KPD. 3

O

one-party state – a state in which only one party is permitted; introduced after independence in many African countries, for example Ghana in 1964, Tanzania in 1965 and Kenya in 1982. 4

P

pact – in O’Donnell and Schmitter (1986) an agreement between reformers in the regime and moderates in the opposition that guarantees both sides their vital interests: free elections in exchange for security for the old rulers. 5
pact of forgetting – tacit agreement of the Spanish elites after 1975 not to deal politically with the crimes of the civil war and Francoism; an interpretation by the historian Paloma Aguilar, not a document. 5
party ban – Article 21 of the Basic Law: parties that seek to impair or abolish the free democratic basic order are unconstitutional; the Federal Constitutional Court decides, as in 1952 against the SRP and in 1956 against the KPD. 4
peaceful transfer of power – the handing over of government to an opposing party after a lost election; in the United States first in 1801 from Adams to Jefferson, the touchstone of every democracy. 2
People Power – name for the non-violent mass protest that toppled Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines in February 1986; later a symbol of overthrows by the street. 5
playbook – game plan; here the summary of the factors that decided the success or failure of a transition to democracy in the cases of this text, sorted by phase. 9
plebiscite – a popular vote on a person or a question of principle; in Chile 55.99 per cent voted on 5 October 1988 against a further term for Pinochet. 5
pluralism – the view that a free society consists of many groups with conflicting interests and that the common good only emerges from their regulated dispute; laid out in Madison, elaborated by Ernst Fraenkel. 2
pluralist democracy – an order in which many groups, parties and opinions compete openly for power, the government can lose an election and the losers accept the result because they can win next time. Introduction
polyarchy – Robert Dahl’s word (1971) for the real democracies: regimes with wide public contestation and wide participation; he called only the ideal democracy. Introduction
presidential cabinet – a government of the late Weimar Republic that rested not on a majority in the Reichstag but on the Reich President and his emergency decrees; first under Brüning from 30 March 1930. 3

R

Reichstag Fire Decree – Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State of 28 February 1933, which suspended the basic rights of the Weimar constitution “until further notice”. 3
reverse wave – in Huntington a period in which more democracies fall than arise; the first from 1922 to 1942, the second in the 1960s and 1970s. Introduction
right of resistance – the right of the people to remove a government that breaks the trust placed in it; grounded by John Locke in 1689/90 and taken into the Declaration of Independence in 1776. 1
round table – a form of negotiation in transitions in which government and opposition negotiate as equals; in Poland from 6 February to 5 April 1989, then in Hungary and East Germany. 6

S

semi-loyal opposition – in Juan Linz (1978) an opposition that affirms the democratic rules only as long as they serve it, excuses the violence of its allies and makes deals with the enemies of democracy. 3
separation of powers – the separation of legislative, executive and judicial power so that power checks power; described by Montesquieu in 1748 using England as his example. 1
softliner – in O’Donnell and Schmitter (1986) the reformers in the authoritarian regime who want to legitimise it through elections and are ready to negotiate for that. 5
sortition – filling offices by lot instead of by election; usual for many offices in Athens, so that the same families did not always rule. 1
spyware – program that installs itself unnoticed on a computer or mobile phone and passes on messages, calls and location; Pegasus was used in Hungary against lawyers, journalists and an opposition politician, in Poland against 578 people. 8
strategic electoral manipulation – according to Bermeo (2016) the distortion of competition long before election day, through media, electoral law, election bodies or obstruction of candidates, instead of falsifying the votes. 8
subject culture – in Almond and Verba (1963) a political culture in which citizens expect services from the state but keep their distance and take little part; how they described the Federal Republic in 1959. 4

T

Transición – the Spanish transition from Franco’s dictatorship to democracy, from his death in 1975 via the free election of 1977 and the constitution of 1978 to the change of government of 1982; model for later negotiated transitions. 5
transition paradigm – the assumption of the 1990s that every country moving away from dictatorship is on the way to democracy; rejected by Thomas Carothers in 2002. 7
transitional justice – the reckoning with dictatorships and civil wars in times of political change, through trials, truth commissions, reparations or amnesties; term coined by Ruti Teitel (1991). 5
truth commission – a commission that records and makes public the crimes of a dictatorship or civil war; examples Argentina 1983/84 (“Nunca más”), Chile 1990/91, South Africa 1995 to 1998. 5
two-turnover test – Huntington’s yardstick for a consolidated democracy: the party that won the first free election loses a later one and hands over power, and the winners of that later election in turn do the same. 7

U

universal suffrage – a vote not tied to property, tax or estate; in the 19th century almost everywhere a male suffrage (France 1848, Reichstag 1871), for men and women in Germany since 1918, in the United Kingdom since 1928. 2

V

Velvet Revolution – non-violent upheaval in Czechoslovakia from 17 November to 29 December 1989, at the end of which Václav Havel became president. 6
Venice Commission – European Commission for Democracy through Law, founded by the Council of Europe on 10 May 1990; advises states on constitutions and electoral laws. 6

W

wave – in Huntington (1991) a group of transitions to democracy within a specified period of time that significantly outnumber transitions in the opposite direction; the first from the 1820s to 1926, the second after 1943, the third from 1974. Introduction
women’s suffrage – the right of women to vote and stand for election; first in New Zealand in 1893, in Europe first in Finland in 1906, in Germany since 12 November 1918, in Switzerland only in 1971. 2

Last updated on 29 October 2026