United States Government: Democracy in Action

Introduction
Political scientists call countries with well-established democratic governments like the United States consolidated democracies. Such nations have fair elections, competing political parties, a constitutional government that guarantees individual rights, an independent judiciary, and some form of a market economy. In this activity, you will learn about the trend of democracies today.

Destination Title: Hoover Institution: A Report Card on Democracy

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Use the information you found to answer the following questions.

1			In 1950, how many and what percentage of countries were democracies? What was this number and percentage by 2000?
2			According to the document, what crises are afflicting many emerging democracies in the world?
3			What is the difference between "electoral democracy" and "liberal democracy"?
4			What is the definition of "consolidated democracies"?
5			Create a continuum with "No Democracy" on the far left, "Electoral Democracy" in the middle, and "Liberal, Consolidated Democracy" on the far right. Use information from the document to place the following regions on the continuum: Eastern and Central Europe and Baltic states; Western Europe and Anglophone states; South America; Asia (East, Southeast, South); Africa (sub-Saharan); Pacific islands; Middle East and North Africa; Latin America and Caribbean; Former Soviet Union.