Democratization

民主化（或民主化）是向更民主的政治体制的过渡，包括朝着民主方向进行的实质性政治变革。这可能是从独裁政权向完全民主的过渡，从独裁政治体制向半民主的过渡，或从半独裁政治体制向民主政治体制的过渡。结果可能会得到巩固（例如在联合王国），或者民主化可能面临频繁的倒退（例如在1973年智利）。民主化的不同模式常常被用来解释其他政治现象，例如一个国家是否参战或其经济是否增长。民主化本身受到各种因素的影响，包括经济发展、历史和公民社会。民主化的理想结果是确保人民有选举权和在政治体制中有发言权。

Democratization (or democratisation) is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic political system.The outcome may be consolidated (as it was for example in the United Kingdom) or democratization may face frequent reversals (as it has faced for example in Chile in 1973). Different patterns of democratization are often used to explain other political phenomena, such as whether a country goes to a war or whether its economy grows.Democratization itself is influenced by various factors, including economic development, history, and civil society. The ideal result from democratization is to ensure that the people have the right to vote and have a voice in their political system.