abstract:Modernization theory is a theory used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The theory looks at the internal factors of a country while assuming that, with assistance, "traditional" countries can be brought to development in the same manner more developed countries have.
Far from being the force for change envisioned by Samuel Huntington and other advocates of modernizationtheory, the middle class in many young democracies is now actually acting as a brake on change.