ABSTRACT
Third wave movements for democratization were not led by landlords, peasants, or industrial workers. In virtually every country the most active supporters of democratization came from the urban middle class. In the third wave, democracies were often made by leaders willing to betray the interests of their followers in order to achieve that goal. Economic Development makes democracy possible; political leadership makes it real. For democracies to come into being, future political elites will at a minimum have to believe that democracy is the least worse form of government for their societies and for themselves. A central compromise in most cases of democratization was what might be termed “the democratic bargain,” the trade-off between participation and moderation. In Poland Solidarity and the Communist party negotiated the Round Table agreements in March and April 1989. In Hungary government and opposition leaders negotiated the “triangular” agreement during the summer of 1989.
