ln the past quarter-century, the world has witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of democratic regimes. Over half the world's population, however, is still governed by nondemocratic regimes, which one leading research organization defines as either 'partly free," sometimes called illiberal (meaning that some personal liberties and democratic rights are limited while others are protected), or "not free," sometimes called authoritarian (meaning that the public has very little individual freedom). Freedom House, a U.S research organization, regularly measures the amount of freedom in different