In a 1994 study, Michael Bratton and Nicolas Van de Walle argue that the prevalence of neopatrimonial regimes in Africa explains why many African states have not successfully democratized.[9] To be democratized, one of the key components needed is a change in political culture. Defined as the shared political ideas, attitudes, and beliefs that underlie a society,[10] political culture in neopatrimonial regime is one where people see the government as their provider for goods and without the government providing, the government has of little use to the people. There is no shared political ideology in most of these countries let alone stable enough economies.