Example: However, numerous countries which have had military rule, often for decades, have had to pass through pivotal moments in their processes of democratisation.
1. Pivotal [piv-uh-tl]
Adjective: of, relating to, or serving as a pivot; of vital or critical importance.
Synonyms: central, climactic, critical, crucial, decisive, essential, momentous, vital, cardinal, determining, focal, middle, overriding, overruling, principal, ruling.
Antonyms: inessential, minor, secondary, trivial.
2. Democratize [dih-mok-ruh-tahyz]
Verb: to make or become democratic.
Example: There have been reversals, counter coups, revolutions and so-called ‘springs’, and some successes and many failures.
3. Reversal [ri-vur-suh l]
Noun: an act or instance of reversing; the state of being reversed; an adverse change of fortune; reverse.
Synonyms: annulment, cancellation, repeal, switch, turnabout, turnaround, U-turn, retraction, volte-face, backpedaling, change in direction, doubleback, rescinding.
Antonyms: approval, enactment, validation.
4. Coup [koo]
Noun: a highly successful, unexpected stroke, act, or move; a clever action or accomplishment.
Synonyms: action, overthrow, plot, revolution, accomplishment, deed, exploit, feat, stratagem, stroke, stunt, upset.
Antonym: failure.
Example: Transitional paths are littered with diverse examples of a wide variety.
5. Litter [lit-er]
Noun: objects strewn or scattered about; scattered rubbish; a condition of disorder or untidiness; a number of young brought forth by a multiparous animal at one birth.
Synonyms: clutter, junk, muck, rubbish, trash, collateral, confusion, detritus, disarray, disorder, garbage, hash, hodgepodge, jumble, jungle, mishmash, muddle, offal, rash, refuse, rummage, scattering, scramble, shuffle.
Antonyms: possessions, sense, arrangement, method.
Example: Most countries in Latin America seem to have made perhaps the strongest and most thorough transitions towards democratisation, albeit, as the cases of Brazil and Venezuela show, not without their own specific problems and issues.
6. Thorough [thur-oh, thuhr-oh]
Adjective: executed without negligence or omissions; complete; perfect; utter; extremely attentive to accuracy and detail; painstaking.
Synonyms: accurate, careful, complete, comprehensive, detailed, exhaustive, full, intensive, meticulous, painstaking, profound, absolute, arrant, consummate, exact, extreme, finished, ingrained, out-and-out, thoroughly.
Antonyms: careless, incomplete, incomprehensive, needy.
7. Albeit [awl-bee-it]
Conjunction: although; even if.
Synonyms: admitting, even if, even though, notwithstanding.
Example: Turkey’s strong anti-military democratic tradition has morphed into a civilian authoritarianism.
8. Morph [mawrf]
Verb: to transform (an image) by computer; to be transformed.
Synonyms: alter, modify, transform, contort, distort, deform, doctor, mutate, recast, transmute, wring.
Antonyms: maintain, stagnate, keep, preserve.
9. Civilian [si-vil-yuh n]
Noun: a person who is not on active duty with a military, naval, police, or fire fighting organization.
Adjective: of, pertaining to, formed by, or administered by civilians.
Synonyms: private, noncombatant, pacificist, noncombative, nonmilitant, not in armed forces.
Antonym: military.
10. Authoritarian [uh-thawr-i-tair-ee-uh n, uh-thor-]
Adjective: favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom.
Synonyms: autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism, monocracy.
Antonym: democracy.