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Democratic Transitions

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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies

Definition

Democratic Transition is a process of democratization where a state undergoes regime change away from a particular type of authoritarianism to a more liberal and/or democratic one.

Introduction

A democratic transition either describes a specific phase in the country’s democratization or a particular political regime installed after authoritarian rule. Democratization is a process where authoritarian rulers are replaced by leaders selected in a free, open, and fair election. Its specific phases comprise bringing about the end of the democratic regime, the inauguration of the democratic regime, and then the consolidation of the democratic system (Huntington 1991). Scholars have conventionally broken down the process of democratization into several stages in which democratic transition and democratic consolidation are the basic stages. The democratic transition is the period from the overthrow of the authoritarian regime until the holding of elections and the adoption of a new...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of the Philippines-Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

    Aries A. Arugay

Authors
  1. Aries A. Arugay
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Correspondence to Aries A. Arugay .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Alberta, Alberta, AB, Canada

    Scott Romaniuk

  2. Nemzetkozi Tanulmanyok Intezet, Rm 503, Corvinus Univ, Inst of Intl Studies, Budapest, Hungary

    Péter Marton

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Arugay, A.A. (2021). Democratic Transitions. In: Romaniuk, S., Marton, P. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_190-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_190-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74336-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74336-3

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