IntroductionThe determinants of social development in the developing world are as unclear as those that facilitate economic development and industrialization. The topic has remained controversial for a while, at least among academics, and may remain so for years to come. From McGuire to Haggard and Kaufman to Huber and Stephens, several theories have been put forward to explain the origin or causes of social rights in the Global South, as well as their development over time, without any central point of agreement among the authors. Although there is no agreement among the authors on the main determinants of social development in developing countries, they all agree that by increasing the human capital of individuals mainly through investments in education, as well as in the provision of social insurance, services, and assistance are necessary and important in the fight against poverty and inequality. In this article I will focus and analyze the different explanations of social development, offered by Huber and Stephens in their book “Democracy and the Left” and by Haggard and Kaufman in “Development, democracy and the welfare state”. I will argue that although both explanations appear to have their merits and limitations, Haggard and Kaufman's argument appears to be more convincing, as their explanation of the factors influencing social development could easily be applied to most regions of the world in development compared to that advanced by Huber and Stephens. However, this does not mean, as I will demonstrate in the paper, that the explanations offered by Huber and Stephens are entirely inadequate since, to some extent, they have rightly described the development of social benefits in the region they focused on: Latin America . This document ...... half of the document ...... contrast between the various regimes – communist, conservative and left – based on the three determinants of social development in developing countries previously discussed. By focusing on just one region, Latin America, Huber and Stephens' arguments about the importance of democracy and “left” parties for social development might, for example, be difficult to apply to Eastern Europe. Furthermore, although both literatures have some areas of agreement, Haggard and Kaufman appear to offer better explanations based on the following points: Works Cited Haggard, Stephan and Kaufman, Robert. Development, democracy and welfare states: Latin America, East Asia and Eastern Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008Huber, Evelyne and Stephens, John. Democracy and the Left: Social Politics and Inequality in Latin America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012