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Mission or Empire, Word or Sword? The Human Capital Legacy in Postcolonial Democratic Development

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  • Tomila Lankina
  • Lullit Getachew

Abstract

Why are some former colonies more democratic than others? The British Empire has been singled out in the debates on colonialism for its benign influence on democracy. Much of this scholarship has focused on colonialism's institutional legacies; has neglected to distinguish among the actors associated with colonialism; and has been nation‐state focused. Our subnational approach allows us to isolate the democracy effects of key actors operating in colonial domains—Christian missionaries—from those of colonial powers. Missionaries influenced democracy by promoting education; education promoted social inclusivity and spurred social reform movements. To make our case, we constructed colonial and postcolonial period district datasets of India and conducted panel analysis of literacy and democracy variations backed by case studies. The findings challenge the conventional wisdom of the centrality of the effects of British institutions on democracy, instead also highlighting the missionaries’ human capital legacies.

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  • Tomila Lankina & Lullit Getachew, 2012. "Mission or Empire, Word or Sword? The Human Capital Legacy in Postcolonial Democratic Development," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(2), pages 465-483, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:56:y:2012:i:2:p:465-483
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00550.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Sascha O. Becker & Jared Rubin & Ludger Woessmann, 2024. "Religion and Growth," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(3), pages 1094-1142, September.
    2. Wietzke, Frank-Borge, 2015. "Long-Term Consequences of Colonial Institutions and Human Capital Investments: Sub-National Evidence from Madagascar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 293-307.
    3. Inken von Borzyskowski & Patrick M Kuhn, 2020. "Dangerously informed: Voter information and pre-electoral violence in Africa," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(1), pages 15-29, January.
    4. Becker, Bastian & Schmitt, Carina, 2023. "License to educate: The role of national networks in colonial empires," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    5. Remi Jedwab & Felix Meier zu Selhausen & Alexander Moradi, 2022. "The economics of missionary expansion: evidence from Africa and implications for development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 149-192, June.
    6. Libman, A., 2013. "Between New Political Economy and Political Science: Convergence and Divergence of Disciplines," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 166-169.
    7. Lee, Alexander & Paine, Jack, 2019. "British colonialism and democracy: Divergent inheritances and diminishing legacies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 487-503.
    8. Nikolova, Elena & Polansky, Jakub, 2020. "Conversionary Protestants do not cause democracy," GLO Discussion Paper Series 480, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Izumi, Yutaro & Park, Sangyoon & Yang, Hyunjoo, 2023. "The effects of South Korean Protestantism on human capital and female empowerment, 1930–2010," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 422-438.

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