POLSC221: Introduction to Comparative Politics

Read this article on the political development of democracy in Latin America. In 1991 political scientist Samuel Huntington defined three "waves" of democratization that have taken place throughout history. The first wave brought democracy to Western Europe and Northern America in the 19th century. It was followed by a rise of dictatorships during the years between World War II and World War II. The second wave began after World War II, but lost steam between 1962 and the mid-1970s. The latest wave began in 1974 and included the historic democratic transitions in Latin America in the 1980s, in addition to Asian Pacific countries and Eastern European after the fall of the Soviet Union.