Freedom House Eastern Europe, and military dictatorships elsewhere, new social forces, commentators were also express- there was an explosion of newspapers, radio and ing optimism about the universal appeal of liberal television stations, and other independent media with values. The decade after the end of the Cold War diverse editorial policies. But the internet in particular was a heyday for democratic ideas and norms. It was was seen as an irresistible force that could render increasingly expected that countries would not only censorship of any kind impossible. In 2000, President hold elections, but that their elections would meet Bill Clinton compared China's efforts to control inter- international standards and be judged “free and fair.” net content to “trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.”” There was also an expectation that political parties would be able to compete on a reasonably level Third, a growing number of experts began to identify playing field, that opposition leaders would not be anew instigator of democratic change in global civil harassed or arrested, and that minorities would be society. Unlike the “peoples movements’ of earlier able to pursue their agendas through normal political decades, in which well-known leaders mobilized mass channels and not find it necessary to wage perpetual demonstrations and often insurrectionary violence protest campaigns. with the goal of overthrowing despotic regimes, the phenomenon that was labeled civil society consisted However, there were nagging questions. It remained of organizations that were often committed to a single unclear whether most societies would have access to cause or a few causes united by a particular theme. multiple sources of political ideas, multiple interpreta- Most activists were young, with little prior involvement tions of the news, and open scholarly inquiries about in politics, and many regarded themselves as part of the past. Would there be honest judicial proceedin