0) One route is the one England took: a higher and higher percentage of the population was given a political voice, over centuries (with some backsliding).
1) Note that authoritarian and totalitarian are not synonyms. Totalitarian means the government controls everything: all business enterprises, all labor organizations, religion -- everything.
Italy made the move from a government which claimed to be totalitarian to a more-or-less democratic government in fairly short order.
Prerequisites for democracy to work requires having a viable country -- one which won't fall apart if the government doesn't maintain top-down control. This is not the case in most of sub-Saharan Africa, among other areas. It's not the case in most Middle Eastern countries.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-01-15 01:09 am (UTC)1) Note that authoritarian and totalitarian are not synonyms. Totalitarian means the government controls everything: all business enterprises, all labor organizations, religion -- everything.
Italy made the move from a government which claimed to be totalitarian to a more-or-less democratic government in fairly short order.
Prerequisites for democracy to work requires having a viable country -- one which won't fall apart if the government doesn't maintain top-down control. This is not the case in most of sub-Saharan Africa, among other areas. It's not the case in most Middle Eastern countries.