Transitions to Democracy and Democratic Consolidation

Transitions to democracy have been explained in various ways. Modernization for instance, is one theoretical approach to explain why countries democratize. Additionally, social and cultural factors have also explained democratization, as well as, international factors. It becomes deductive to attribute democratization to any one single theory as modernization works with social and cultural factors that are also impacted by international factors. It appears as if they all contribute in one way or another. Wezel and Inglehart (2008) examine the effects of crucial social and cultural elements like self-expression that work with modernization in tandem to aid in democratization. Ross (2001) further illustrates this claim in his finding that oil hinders democracy. He concludes that modernization and economic development are not sufficient to assist democratization because they lack the social and cultural elements that allow citizens to have occupational specialization. Furthermore, Boix (2011) found that modernization and economic development lead to democratization, but only after the Cold War because the U.S. became a democratic powerhouse. Therefore there is no one theory that works across time and space but many theories working together in different situations that are appropriate for each country individually. Social and cultural theories coupled with modernization and international factors all explain transition to democratization.

The transition to democracy, according to Welzel and Inglehart (2008) is affected by social and cultural factors that accompany modernization. Modernization is likely to lead to an increase in economic development, which is conducive to democratization. Improved economic conditions have been...

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