ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how the idea and practice of democracy has risen and receded, in ‘waves’, and that these ‘waves’ have reflected the circumstances in which they arose. It notes there have been, approximately three such ‘waves’. These have corresponded to the broad end of monarchical rule in Europe following World War I, the process of decolonization following World War II and in the period from the mid-1970s but in particular since the end of the Cold War. It also notes how the first ‘wave’ was rolled back under political fragility set against economic challenges and that the second wave largely collapsed under similar, if locally distinct, circumstances. The question arises, with measurable democratic decline during the 20 teens, whether the democracies that flourished in the 1990s had shallow political roots and whether economic changes underway since the late 1970s have not undermined democracy in formerly stable democratic countries.
