The United States is sometimes referred to the bedrock of Democracy in the West. Structurally and culturally, democratic concepts and values have been hardwired into the foundation American society. While the United States is technically a Republic, power is ultimately vested and executed by the people at-large.  Both social and economic  institutions have played an extremely important role in the development of the democratic process in the United States. The institution of Capitalism and relatively free-markets, according to Fareed Zakaria, plays and enormous role in the development of a democracy and this has certainly been true for the United States. Socially, the United States also fulfills all of the outlined requirements articulated by Schmitter and Karl for that of a successful democracy. On issues ranging from Constitutional accountability, popular elections, freedom of expression, information outlets, and the formation of independent organizations more than qualifies the United States as a democratic powerhouse.

It is quite clear that Bulgaria has made great strides in the realm of democracy since the fall of the USSR. Structurally, Bulgaria has made great strides in helping the progression of freedom and democratic values. Free elections have been held and there has been quite a capitalist movement in the last decade. In fact, the Heritage Foundation recently marked Bulgaria with an 86% free trade rating, signaling the progression of  free markets in a democratic country. Culturally, Bulgaria has experienced slightly more difficult obstacles in perpetuating democracy…and understandably so. There are still vast percentages of generations that have the memory of the Soviet Union still ingrained into their past. Although private press outlets are allowed, the state still provides much of the information to its citizens. Fortunately, critics are becoming a bit more optimistic about Bulgaria’s future in light of recent free elections and substantial voter turnout. (See the Social-Democrats political advertisement below). Regardless, Freedom House continues to mark either maintained or enhanced progress in most indexes contributing to free, democratic states.