民主化（或民主化）是向更民主的政治體制的過渡，包括朝著民主方向進行的實質性政治變革。這可能是從獨裁政權向完全民主的過渡，從獨裁政治體制向半民主的過渡，或從半獨裁政治體制向民主政治體制的過渡。結果可能會得到鞏固（例如在聯合王國），或者民主化可能面臨頻繁的倒退（例如在1973年智利）。民主化的不同模式常常被用來解釋其他政治現象，例如一個國家是否參戰或其經濟是否增長。民主化本身受到各種因素的影響，包括經濟發展、歷史和公民社會。民主化的理想結果是確保人民有選舉權和在政治體制中有發言權。

Democratization (or democratisation) is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic political system.The outcome may be consolidated (as it was for example in the United Kingdom) or democratization may face frequent reversals (as it has faced for example in Chile in 1973). Different patterns of democratization are often used to explain other political phenomena, such as whether a country goes to a war or whether its economy grows.Democratization itself is influenced by various factors, including economic development, history, and civil society. The ideal result from democratization is to ensure that the people have the right to vote and have a voice in their political system.