Until recent times, democracy—that is freely elected governments and civil societies (something we take for granted in the US) were not considered desirable in many Third World Countries. Why was that the case? Why has this changed in recent times?

Answer 1

I can think of two reasons. True democracy needs an educated and literate electorate. However, literacy rates have been very low in many developing and underdeveloped nations.

The second reason is that democracy can be messy. Some people argue that a dictatorship is more efficient than waiting for people to vote on issues. As the old saying went about Mussolini, the Italian dictator of the 30s and early 30s -- "at least he made the trains run on time."