Conversionary Protestants Do Not Cause Democracy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6227828 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elena Nikolova (0000-0001-9566-1167), Jakub Polansky (0000-0003-0897-6641) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1723-1733 |
| Publication date | 2021-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-1234 • E-ISSN: 1469-2112 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0007123420000174 |
| OpenAlex | W3124860938 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 17 |
In The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy, Robert D. Woodberry (2012) claims that conversionary Protestantism influenced the emergence of stable democracies around the world. While his historical analysis is exhaustive, the accompanying empirical evidence suffers from severe inconsistencies. This letter replicates Woodberry's analysis using twenty-six alternative democracy measures and extends the time period over which the democracy measures are averaged. These two simple modifications lead to the breakdown of Woodberry's results. We find no significant relationship between Protestant missions and the development of democracy, which raises concerns about the robustness and broader applicability of Woodberry's findings. The letter discusses some alternative explanations for Woodberry's results, which can inform future research on this topic
Biology · Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Liberal democracy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Protestantism · Robustness (evolution · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Law · Religion and Society Interactions
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The Role of Protestantism in Democratic Consolidation Among Transitional States
Mission or Empire, Word or Sword? The Human Capital Legacy in Postcolonial Democratic Development
Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital Theory of Protestant Economic History
The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy
Social Capital and Democracy
Liberal Democracy Series I, 1972-1988
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2024 (3) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |