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Waves of democracy have been defined as a group of democratic transitions 'that occur within a specified period of time and that significantly outnumber transitions in the opposite direction during that period’. It is broadly agreed that there have been three waves of democracy in world history. The first long wave from 1828 to 1926 saw some thirty countries achieve minimal democratic institutions. The second wave from 1943 to 1962 was driven by anti-colonial struggles that in some cases led to new democratic regimes. The third wave began with the Portuguese revolution of 1974 and has continued to the present. It appears that the third wave has wrought a democratic revolution, and so transformed the political universe. Most of the third-wave democratic regimes are plainly illiberal in this sense, and frequently act to repress minorities, restrict civil rights, manipulate the media and undermine the autonomy of the judiciary or hinder its work.