The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy

Abstract:

This article demonstrates historically and statistically that conversionary Protestants (CPs) heavily influenced the rise and spread of stable democracy around the world. It argues that CPs were a crucial catalyst initiating the development and spread of religious liberty, mass education, mass printing, newspapers, voluntary organizations, and colonial reforms, thereby creating the conditions that made stable democracy more likely. Statistically, the historic prevalence of Protestant missionaries explains about half the variation in democracy in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania and removes the impact of most variables that dominate current statistical research about democracy. The association between Protestant missions and democracy is consistent in different continents and subsamples, and it is robust to more than 50 controls and to instrumental variable analyses.

Research Interests:

Economic History, Economic Sociology, Political Sociology, Social Movements, Sociology of Religion, and 102 moreAfrican Studies, Asian Studies, Latin American Studies, Economics, Development Economics, Education, Historical Sociology, Sociology of Education, Southeast Asian Studies, Latin American and Caribbean History, Middle East Studies, History of Religion, History of Education, Missiology, Catholic Missionary History, Transnational and World History, Pacific Island Studies, Middle East History, Transnationalism, Mixed Methods, Community Development, South Asian Studies, Community Organizing, African History, Religion and Colonialism, Social Movement, Africa, Protestant Missionaries (U.S. history), Democratization, Nationalism, World History, Colonialism, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Caribbean History, South Asian History, Missionary History, Faith Based Organizations, Caribbean Studies, East Asian Studies, Transnational History, History of Missions, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Civil Society and the Public Sphere, Translation History, Asia Pacific Region, Post-Colonialism, Globalisation and Development, Mission Studies, Protestantism, Social Movements (Political Science), National Identity, Media and Democracy, Protestant missionaries in the Ottoman Empire, Economic Development, Protestant Missionaries in Africa, British Empire, Global History, History of Economics, Religion and Social Change, Transnational Social Movements, British Imperial and Colonial History (1600 - ), Global and Comparative Sociology, Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in the Ottoman Empire, Social movements and revolution, Democracy, Printing History, History of Translation, Institutions and Economic growth, Southeast Asian history, Empire, Comparative and historical sociology, Pacific History, Maritime and Oceanic History, Religion and Society, Civil Society, INGO (international non-governemental organization), Global/Transnational History, Sociology of Development, World Culture, Imperialism, Latin America, East Asian History, Mission, Missionary Studies, Newspapers and online journalism, Missions, Oceania, Non Profit Organizations, Missionary movements, Organizational Dynamics, American Protestant Missionaries and the Middle East / Ottoman History - 19th cen., Catholic and Protestant Missionaries, History of Books, Printing, and Publishing, Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in Subsaharan Africa, Globalization and Transnationalism, Protestant missions, Global and Transnational Sociology, Comparative/Transnational History, Colonial Reform Movements, Religion and Social Work, Protestant Missions Congo, and Protestant Missions History