ABSTRACT
Since 1989 most of the Second and Third World has experienced profound political and economic change at an unprecedented pace. The political dimensions of ethnicity are hardly new developments yet there has been a close correspondence between the increase in their expression and the drastic changes in so many established political and economic orders since 1989. The evaluation scheme used here has evolved gradually from one first devised in 1976. Although its focus is also on civil and political liberties, the criteria are more concise than those of the UN covenants. The end of communist rule in Europe produced widespread economic as well as political restructuring. The political and economic changes are indeed revolutionary for many of the societies in which they are underway. In contrast, in Latin America the impacts of the Democratic Revolution have affected every country except Cuba.
