Exchange: Misunderstanding Gradualism

Morocco was not immune to the 2011 upheavals in the Arab world, but the country’s monarchy deftly managed the crisis through cosmetic constitutional reform.

Despite increasing authoritarian tendencies at the national level, there are signs that Nicaragua has been making democratic advances at the local level.

Since their transitions, the democracies of the “third wave” have followed a range of trajectories beyond simple survival or breakdown. Many have stagnated at low levels of democracy and some…