Democratic transition

A democratic transition describes a phase in a country's political system as a result of an ongoing change from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one.^[1][2][3] The process is known as democratisation, political changes moving in a democratic direction.^[4] Democratization waves have been linked to sudden shifts in the distribution of power among the great powers, which created openings and incentives to introduce sweeping domestic reforms.^[5][6] Although transitional regimes experience more civil unrest,^[7][8] they may be considered stable in a transitional phase for decades at a time.^[9][10][11] Since the end of the Cold War transitional regimes have become the most common form of government.^[12][13] Scholarly analysis of the decorative nature of democratic institutions concludes that the opposite democratic backsliding (autocratization), a transition to authoritarianism is the most prevalent basis of modern hybrid regimes.^[14][15][16]