The aim of this study is to examine the democratization process of Kosovo in the years after the
countries independence was assured. Two central questions for the case study consist of whether
a democratic improvement in the country has occurred and which factors, positive and negative,
are present to further improve or impede the democratizationprocess. The study builds upon two
central definitions, democratic states and democratization in order to gain theoretical background
to be able to measure these two quite abstract expressions. A socioeconomic model is used to
measure favorable or negative developments within Kosovos society and the findings of this
model confirms the hypothesis of modernization theory, namely that increased socioeconomic
development increases the chance of a positive democratizationprocess. There has been a
positive democratic development aswell as socioecomic progress but since the nature of this
study is merely descriptive and not explanatory, it doesnt make claims on the explanatory power
of modernization theory. A transition model is used for gaining a general overview of where in
the democratizationprocess Kosovo currently resides. The findings of this model suggests that
Kosovo currently sits in the transitionsphase of the model with problems like corruption and
ethnical conflicts between minorities aswell as gender inequality as the main forces holding back
the quality aspect of the consolidationphase.