The Road to Freedom: Democratic Transition and Political Violence in the Third Wave and After.

Much of the transition literature touts the peaceful nature of the third wave of democratization. The result is that there is a dearth of information regarding political violence and the role it plays in democratic transitions. This paper seeks to explore the issue of political violence as it relates to the transition process. Specifically, does political violence hinder the democratic transition process? Instances of political violence that occur during the transition period are as important to study as instances of peaceful transition; to understand only one type of transition is to misunderstand the idiosyncratic nature of transitions. The gap in the literature that currently fails to address the role of political violence in countries moving toward democratic rule has mistakenly resulted in broad generalizations that violence is only detrimental to the prospect of democracy. This paper will explore this argument and will also briefly discuss five transitions in which violence occurred? Portugal, El Salvador, South Africa, Romania, and East Timor (Timor Leste). This research borrows from and will have implications for the sub-fields of comparative politics and international relations as it truly is an intradisciplinary discussion on transitions and violence. How we study democratic transitions and the presence or absence of political violence will be altered as the research shows that democracy can indeed arise alongside violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]