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Tilly, C., 2000, ‘Processes and Mechanisms of Democratization’, Sociological Theory, vol. A more useful alternative is gradualism, which aims to build democracy slowly, taking into account the risks and complications of democratisation. This article from the Journal of Democracy argues that sequencing is a problematic idea rooted in scepticism about democracy, which helps to postpone democratisation indefinitely. Should the rule of law and a well-functioning state be prerequisites for democratisation? Democratic sequencing suggests that they should. But there is considerable ongoing debate about whether and how structural factors – economic, social, and institutional conditions and legacies – impact on the prospects for democratisation and on the sustainability of democratic political systems.Ĭarothers, T., 2007, ‘How Democracies Emerge: The Sequencing Fallacy’, Journal of Democracy, vol. The so-called ‘third wave’ of democratisation during the early 1990s demonstrated that the emergence of democracy is not contingent on a certain level of economic development. How are processes of democratisation influenced by economic development, history, state capacity and civil society? Why do some democratisation processes succeed where others fail? Can these processes be effectively supported by external agencies?

For further reading, please see the links in the useful websites section. How can processes of democratisation be supported in different development contexts? And how can democracy be pro-poor? A large body of literature on democracy addresses these and many other questions. This page addresses two specific issues for development practitioners. Either way, a central question is how citizens exercise control and scrutiny over political institutions. Whilst some understand it in procedural terms – as electoral competition and decision-making – others view it more broadly in terms of civil and political rights and the distribution of power within society. Democracy is a highly contested concept, both in terms of its definition and its relationship to development.