Transitions to democracy have been explained in various ways. Modernization, for example, is a theoretical approach to explaining why countries democratize. Furthermore, social and cultural factors also explained democratization, as did international factors. It becomes deductive to attribute democratization to a single theory since modernization works with social and cultural factors which are also influenced by international factors. It seems like everyone contributes in one way or another. Wezel and Inglehart (2008) examine the effects of crucial social and cultural elements such as self-expression working with modernization in tandem to foster democratization. Ross (2001) further illustrates this claim by finding that oil hinders democracy. It concludes that modernization and economic development are not sufficient to promote democratization because the social and cultural elements that allow citizens to have professional specialization are missing. Furthermore, Boix (2011) found that modernization and economic development lead to democratization, but only after the Cold War because the United States became a democratic power. Therefore there is no one theory that works across time and space, but many theories that work together in different situations suited individually to each country. Social and cultural theories coupled with modernization and international factors all explain the transition to democratization. The transition to democracy, according to Welzel and Inglehart (2008) is influenced by social and cultural factors that accompany modernization. Modernization will likely lead to increased economic development, which will foster democratization. The improvement in economic conditions has been... half of the document ......7. Formal and informal institutions in Africa. Journal of Democracy 18 (3): 96-110. Finkel, S., Linan Perez, and M. Seligson. 2007. The Effects of U.S. Foreign Assistance on Democracy Building, 1990-2003. World Politics 59 (3): 404-40. Kapstein, Ethan B., and Nathan Converse. 2008. Why Democracies Fail. Journal of Democracy 19 (4): 57-68. Qi, Lingling and Doh Chull Shin. 2011. How mass political attitudes influence democratization: Exploring the facilitating role that critical democrats play in the process. International Political Science Review 32 (3): 245-62. Ross, Michael L. 2001. Does Oil Hinder Democracy? World Politics 53 (3): 325-61.Schedler, Andreas. 1998. What is democratic consolidation? Journal of Democracy 9 (2): 91-107. Welzel, Christian, and Ronald Inglehart. 2008. The role of ordinary people in democratization. Journal of Democracy 19 (1): 126-40.