Structured Response 28 October 2012

The issues mentioned in the master blog as social movements influencing democratization can be classified more narrowly than as "movements." Both the fight for women's suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement were more revolutionary than evolutionary.  In both cases, there is a common pattern.  First, the situation for the demographics concerned (women and blacks, respectively) had to essentially be as bad as it could get.  For female suffrage, American women had no political voice for over a hundred years, despite avid movements during the mid-1800s, yet felt the same consequences for any political decision made.  When the United States, under Wilson's hand, entered into the WWI conflict, women had reached the tipping point.  They boldly picketed the White House and lobbied Congressmen, insensitive to the tense wartime situation. Eventually, they swayed the Congress, and the 19th Amendment was ratified.  

Similarly, in 1950s America, the situation for blacks, especially in the South, was dire.  Lynchings were far too common, and almost every public space was segregated.  The African American community had been living as second-class citizens since the end of the Civil War, the disparity continually worsening over time.  By the 1960s, the African American community had enough, so they came together and started a revolution that spread across the entire country.  Their means of peaceful protest created a nation - and worldwide sense of empathy for the racial disparity in America, pushing the US government to change its ways.

The same can be said for the democratization process in the MENA region.  If we look at the Arab Spring, we observe the same pattern: years of animosity built up as the autocratic regimes limit the rights of the people.  Soon, the disparity became too much.  And as soon as one Tunisian man set himself on fire, people throughout the region realized the need for change and took to the streets.  Regardless of the geographical setting, this is clear - before the situation can improve, it has to hit rock bottom.