The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy

Abstract

T his 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.

Under which conditions does religion affect educational outcomes?

“…A new twist is brought in by Doepke and Zilibotti (2008) who examine the evolution of Protestant values in interaction with occupational choice. More broadly, Woodberry (2012) provides evidence for the relationship between religious missions and democracy and argues that Protestants played an important role for modernization in general with support of mass education being one important mechanism. of the death penalty is generally associated with conservatism.…”

What works? Evidence on the role of faith in poverty reduction

“…He mentioned that there was an emerging body of scholarship that supported global faith-based interventions on education, religious liberty and social democracy. 7 He referenced Lewis Rambo's work on metrics of spiritual transformation. 8 As the Lausanne Covenant states, "Presence is indispensible-serving the hurting, saving the lost."…”

Faith-Based International Development Work: A Review

“…Woodberry found that the missionary movement had strong, positive influence on liberal democratization. Countries open to missionaries ended up upholding democratic principles and experienced democratic government significantly more so that countries not exposed to missionaries [60]. In another perspective on proselytization, Dena Freeman explains how the Pentecostal movement in Africa seeks to transform individual converts, helping them to break away from traditional cultural norms, thereby liberating themselves to pursue wealth and personal progression [61].…”