Introduction

This book examines regime change during the so-called Third Wave by focusing on transitions to and from democratic rule, taking into account factors such as the nature of authoritarian and democratic institutions, regime performance, and capacities for collective action on the part of civil society. Drawing on seventy-eight discrete democratic transitions and twenty-five cases of reversion to autocracy that occurred between 1980 and 2008 as coded in two widely used datasets, the book considers how structural factors affect transitions to and reversions from democracy. It shows that democratization driven by mass mobilization appears to hinge on political factors: how exclusionary or co-optive authoritarian regimes are and the extent to which publics are capable of mobilizing grievances into the political arena. This introduction defines core terms and justifies the book's focus on the Third Wave. It also previews the book's empirical findings and concludes with a note on the research method used.