Or maybe it was the political and judicial maturation of a teenage democracy.

The effect was to choke off and distort the political maturation of Germany, with consequences that have been felt into our own times.

But today it reached a kind of political maturation when a group of Congressional Democrats announced a legislative plan to make it a reality.

Mr. Musa said continued economic development was vital to political maturation.

Though the idea enjoyed a modest chic among some policy analysts, it was not until Mr. Clinton's Presidential campaign that it moved toward political maturation.

There, too, the process of political maturation has not yet progressed as far as it needs to.

The political maturation of the principality's government fostered a more defined relationship between prince and the people.

Critics praised the political maturation of Thailand, even if they also grumbled that corruption seemed as rife as it ever was.

But inflation running at 100 percent a month is only the latest manifestation of a disease that has sapped productivity and retarded economic and political maturation in Argentina for a century.

After colonial rule and cold war politics that stunted modern Africa's political maturation, orderly and peaceful transitions have become one measure of progress toward genuine democracy.