ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the literature on democratic transitions and modes of transition. It attempt to address some significant questions related to the process of democratization, define democratic transition and consolidation, and categorize transitional modes based on the synthesis of the rich literature on the modes of transition from authoritarianism to democracy. In this study, we are concerned with democratic transitions, which are an integral part of the democratization process. The second step of democratization is the transition itself and the focus of this research. To demonstrate a trigger event, we provide a brief overview of Taiwan's and Romania's transition in the late twentieth century. The first nation wide competitive elections were held since the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), retreated to Taiwan, marking the end point of the democratic transition. This chapter shows that regime transitions occur through a variety of ways and are categorized in terms of conversion, cooperation, collapse and foreign intervention.
