Christianity, Islam and political culture: Lessons from sub -Saharan Africa in comparative perspective

Many theorists have argued that Western Christianity and Islam affect political culture in different ways, and that Western Christianity is more conducive to the rise of a democratic political culture than Islam. In this dissertation, I argue that the difference between Christianity and Islam in terms of the type of political culture they encourage is largely exaggerated.;Based on the evidence from sub-Saharan Africa, I find that Christianity is no more conducive to democracy than Islam. Rather than a correlation between the type of religious institution that is most prevalent and democratization, I find a significant correlation between religious diversity and democratization. All else being equal, more religiously diverse sub-Saharan African countries have democratized more between 1990 and 2002 than less religiously plural sub-Saharan African countries. I develop an argument to explain the correlation between religious diversity and democratization. This argument I call the ‘religious competition argument’. I argue that, in an attempt to preserve and promote the influence of their religious institutions in the wider society, religious leaders will be more encouraging of political actions and attitudes among their members that are conducive to democracy in more religiously diverse settings than in less religiously diverse settings. The religious competition argument is tested on the results of survey research I conducted among Roman Catholics and Muslims in Kenya between May and August 2002. The results basically support the argument. I find that the effect of religious involvement on political actions and attitudes depends less on whether one is a Catholic or a Muslim than on where one is a Catholic or a Muslim. I find that Roman Catholics and Muslims who are more religiously involved in the most diverse plural settings are more politically active and supportive of democracy than Roman Catholics and Muslims who are just as religiously involved in less religiously diverse settings. Even more strikingly, I find that, in religiously diverse settings, religious involvement is often a more powerful predictor of political actions and attitudes than other factors usually thought to be more important, such as gender, age, education and income.;The findings indicate that there is no essential relationship between types of religious institutions and political culture. Further, and perhaps more strikingly, the findings suggest that religious diversity should be added to the conditions, such as economic development, economic growth and education, thought to enhance the prospects for democracy.