We are witnessing the fourth global wave of democratization, with the popular uprisings that are sweeping the Middle East, including the toppling of long-serving autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt and perhaps the leader of Libya as well.
The trajectory in the growth of democracy over the last two centuries has been imprinted with certain patterns and trends. Industrialization gave the public a greater voice, which led to the replacement of monarchies with republican legislative governments in the first wave of democratization during the American War for Independence and the French Revolution.
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