POLI 213

ASSIGNME
NT 1
Mr Mongale
10/03/2023
The Fourth Wave of
Democratization

37640054
TT Ntuli
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Abstract
This Essay demonstrates the possibilities of the fourth wave of democratization looking at
case studies across the context. Since the beginning of the first democratic wave in the 19 th
century, when the seniority of the white males in the United States of America received the
right to vote, till the present day, the shift to a more democratic political system, including
significant political changes moving in a democratic administration, has been making moves.
The cascading popular democracy movement that started in Tunisia and incited other
uprisings around the region is what many foreign analyst refer to as the ‘‘Arab Spring’’ has
opened the door to the potential of the fourth wave of democratization. Several countries
including Egypt, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia have protested for democracy within their regions
with the use of digital media. While democratization has been sluggish in certain Middle
Eastern and North African nations like Egypt, it has been facilitated in others by the use of
digital media and other information and communication technology. The use of digital media
has altered democratization movement strategies and produced advantageous effects for other
nations as they were able to dethrone their leaders.
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Introduction
Samuel Huntington, an American political scientist, coined the word ‘‘Democratization’’ and
distinguished three phases of it in terms of politics. What, specifically, does the term
‘‘Democratization’’ mean? Democratization is challenging to depict in application, in
generally due to controversy over how to define democracy, but in short and simple terms, it
is the procedure by which a system of government becomes representatives, and primarily, it
is the transformation to an alternative parliamentary government that includes actual political
reforms making steps in a self-governing route.
As was already mentioned, Samuel Huntington identified three waves as the general pattern
of democratization over the world. The early 19th century saw the beginning of the first wave
of democracy, which lasted until the 1920s, according to Gates et al. (2003:1). The first wave
of democratization was primarily sparked by the formation of the socio-economic class and
common labourers, economic growth, mechanization and also the steady decline in income
disparity. A second wave of democratization emerged following the end of World War ll. The
wave of democratization that peaked in 1962 with 36 countries being governed
democratically was brought about by the victory of the allies in World War ll (Huntington,
1991:12).
The Third wave of democratization is thought to have begun in Mediterranean Europe in the
middle of the 1970s and it extended to other regions like Africa, countries of Eastern Europe,
Asia, and South America. The development of the urban middle class as a result of rising
living and educational standards propelled the third wave, which was also fuelled by the
Catholic Church’s transformation from a former backer of Authoritarian regimes. Even
though there have already been three waves of democratization, a fourth wave is still
theoretically possible. This essay will look back at the past three waves of democratization
and investigate the potential outcomes of the fourth wave of democratization using two case
studies.

The First Wave of Democratization

As was already said, the first wave started or happened in the early 19th century and
continued until the early 20th century. The wave originated in the United States in 1828 and
reached its height in 1922 when it affected 45 percent of all states and followed by a reverse
wave which swept through in 1942, impacting 20 percent of all territories (Kurzman,
1998:430). This wave saw the formation of democracies in a few Western European nations,
particularly France, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. It was also primarily driven
by the expansion of education, the rise of the middle class, and the gradual freedom of
political systems. In many cases, the transition from monarchy to democracy was frequently
peaceful When traditional regimes gave way to parliamentary democracies and authoritarian
regimes. The French Bourbon dynasty's downfall in 1830, which resulted in the foundation of
a constitutional monarchy, was one of the significant events of the first wave (Lynch,
1940:72). King Louis XVI and his spouse were put to death when the throne was overthrown,
and the bourbon monarchy suffered fierce resistance during the French revolution. Following
the French revolution and the French army's invasion of the Netherlands army, the Batavian
republic was passed, a new constitution that gave all citizens the right to vote. This marked
the beginning of the first wave of democratization in the Netherlands.
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Similar reforms were then implemented in Belgium and Switzerland, resulting in the
establishment of parliamentary systems and the expansion of the ability to vote. At this time,
there were significant political developments in other nations as well, like Spain and
Portugal, where centuries of colonial authority came to an end and democratic governments
were erected. Overall, Europe's history underwent a significant turning point with the onset of
the first wave of democracy.

The Second Wave of Democratization

As was already said, the second wave of democratization started to take place following
World War II, and it was marked by the change from totalitarian to democratic regimes in
numerous nations all over the globe. The conclusion of the cold war was one of the primary
causes of the second wave (Mansfield and Snyder, 1995:8). Many authoritarian governments
were more open to the idea of democratization as the Soviet Union fell apart and communism
was no longer viewed as a suitable solution to both democracy and capitalism.
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Reference List
Gates, S., Herge, H. Jones, M.P. & Strand, H. 2003. Democratic waves? Global Perspective,
1800-2000
Huntington, S.P. 1991. Democracy’s third wave. Journal of Democracy, 2(2):12-34.