Logo image
The Diffusion of Democracy, 1946-1994
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The Diffusion of Democracy, 1946-1994

John O'Loughlin, Michael D. Ward, Corey L. Lofdahl, Jordin S. Cohen, David S. Brown, David Reilly, Kristian S. Gleditsch and Michael Shin
Annals of the Association of American Geographers, v 88(4), pp 545-574
01 Dec 1998

Abstract

measures of democracy political change regional effects space-time autocorrelation spatial diffusion Africa Democracy Latin America
We examine the relationship between the temporal and spatial aspects of democratic diffusion in the world system since 1946. We find strong and consistent evidence of temporal clustering of democratic and autocratic trends, as well as strong spatial association (or autocorrelation) of democratization. The analysis uses an exploratory data approach in a longitudinal framework to understand global and regional trends in changes in authority structures. Our work reveals discrete changes in regimes that run counter to the dominant aggregate trends of democratic waves or sequences, demonstrating how the ebb and flow of democracy varies among the world's regions. We conclude that further analysis of the process of regime change from autocracy to democracy, as well as reversals, should start from a "domain-specific" position that dis-aggregates the globe into its regional mosaics.

Metrics

21 Record Views
250 citations in Scopus
82 readers on Mendeley
3 readers on CiteULike

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Industry collaboration
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Geography
Logo image