Factors that have long been assumed to lead to democratization include: a large middle class; participation in the community of Western nations; and/or a capitalist economy, among other factors.
Recent empirical research by Michael Aleprete, John Hickman, and Philip Reeves analyzing the statistical determinants of democratization suggests that the two most important factors leading to democratization include the total size of the economy and similarity of military alliances with those of the United States. The evidence for other commonly mentioned factors, such as the presence of a large middle class, high per capita GDP, and culture defined in terms of Western Christianity do not have statistically significant associations with democracy.
Although democratization is most often thought of in the context of national or regional politics, the term can also be applied to international bodies (e.g the United Nations where there is an ongoing call for reform and altered voting structures) and corporations. In firms, the traditional power structure was top-down direction and the boss-knows-best; this is quite different from consultation, empowerment (of lower levels) and a diffusion of decision-making (power) throughout the firm.
Further reading
Thomas Carothers. Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve. 1999. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for Interantional Peace.
Frederic C. Schaffer. Democracy in Translation: Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture. 1998. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univerity Press.
Fareed Zakaria. The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad. 2003. New York: W.W. Norton.
Democrats made Byrd the chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee and President Pro Tempore of the Senate from 1989 until the Republicans won control of the Senate in November 1994.
Democrat opposition to the Civil Rights Act was substantial enough to literally split the party in two.
The Texas Democrats responded with their usual ploys and turned to what was known as the "Jaybird system" which used private Democrat clubs to hold white-only votes on a slate of candidates, which were then transferred to the Democrat party itself and put on their primary ballot as the only choices.
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