ABSTRACT
All member-states of the European Union (EU) are classified as fully functioning liberal democracies. The length of t ime each of the memberstates has enjoyed liberal democratic rule is by no means uniform. Some countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden have liberal democratic traditions that stretch back well over one hundred years. Others such as Denmark and Belgium have similarly proud records which have been interrupted only as a result of foreign invasion and not through internal pressures. Some, such as France and Germany have been prone to massive internal dislocation and bouts of revolutionary violence. Yet others, such as Spain and Portugal, have only emerged from long periods of authoritarian rule in recent years.
