Isabel Gabaldon
Assignment 1, Writing Seminar
In his paper The Third Wave, Samuel Huntington argues that a democracy is a
government in which free, fair, consistent elections that elect the most powerful,
prominent leaders exist with a legitimate chance for turnover. For these elections to be
legitimate, a majority of the population must be able to vote. Though democracies don’t
need to be consistent for Huntington to consider them democracies, they require
reasonable power in the hands of the main decision-making officials who were voted into
office. Additionally, because the freedom of speech and assembly is necessary for a
healthy, constructive political system, and consequently, the aforementioned free, fair,
and consistent elections, these are also Huntington’s requirements for a democracy.
