The author also notes, however, that the elected leaders in these states may themselves hold no commitment to democracy, and be better described as “elected autocrats”. This makes it difficult to conceptualise these conflicts as existing between pro- and anti- democratic forces. This is partly a result of the complexity of democratisation, but is a problem exacerbated by the opacity of the book’s definition of democracy. One key change which may explain why the middle class is no longer a solid friend to democracy is that in many of the “fourth wave” democracies being examined, the middle class – while sizeable – does not constitute a majority. This leads to democratically elected leaders choosing to prioritise the wishes of other groups, even at the expense of the middle class. It is these decisions that often build the resentment which leads to anti-democratic middle class protest movements.