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Article: Developing democracy: democratizers' surprisingly bright development record.(Perspectives)(pseudo democratizers)
- Article from:
- Harvard International Review
- Article date:
- June 22, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Harvard International Relations Council, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The past 25 years have seen an astonishing advance in the number of democracies around the world. Some 87 previously nondemocratic countries have made discernible advances towards democracy during this time. Of these democratizers, 70 have per capita incomes below US$4,000, making this a largely developing country phenomenon. Today, two-thirds of all countries live under some form of self-governance--a reversal from just 15 years ago.
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Despite this tectonic shift in global governance patterns, the sentiment that a poor country must first develop economically before it can democratize persists. The stellar growth of autocratic ...