The United States, while founded with the ideals of democracy, took quite some time to reach that goal. Throughout our history, we have struggled with the definition of equality. With the women's rights movement of the 1920s and the Civil War, the United States has constantly questioned civil rights--right versus wrong. The main issues today are those of gay rights and the right for a woman to have an abortion; both are heated topics, and both address the issue of human rights.
Democratization in the MENA region is slowing happening today. As Cavatorta and Elanaza address in their work, these states must go through three steps: the "opening" of the regime, usually caused by a conflict of some kind and that begins to move the country toward democracy; the "breakthrough," in which the old regime collapses and is replaced by a new one; and the "consolidation of new institutions and the progressive substantiation of democracy," where the new regime becomes the new reality and therefore new norms are created. Many states in the region are just in the first stage, many as a result of the Arab Spring, and it may take them years and years to finally reach step three. It took the United States years to reform, and it even still continues to do so today. All states will; it's just a matter of reaching that first step and not letting go of the drive for democracy.
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