Editing Democratization (section)

==== Values and religion ====
It is claimed by some that certain cultures are simply more conducive to democratic values than others. This view is likely to be [[Ethnocentrism|ethnocentric]]. Typically, it is [[Western culture]] which is cited as "best suited" to democracy, with other cultures portrayed as containing values which make democracy difficult or undesirable. This argument is sometimes used by undemocratic regimes to justify their failure to implement democratic reforms. Today, however, there are many non-Western democracies. Examples include India, Japan, Indonesia, Namibia, Botswana, Taiwan, and South Korea. Research finds that "Western-educated leaders significantly and substantively improve a country's democratization prospects".<ref>{{Cite journal |title = Who Democratizes? Western-educated Leaders and Regime Transitions|last1 = Gift|first1 = Thomas|last2 = Krcmaric|first2 = Daniel|year = 2015 |journal = Journal of Conflict Resolution |volume = 61|issue = 3|pages = 671–701|doi = 10.1177/0022002715590878|s2cid = 156073540}}</ref>

Huntington presented an influential, but also controversial arguments about Confucianism and Islam. Huntington held that "In practice Confucian or Confucian-influenced societies have been inhospitable to democracy."<ref>Huntington, Samuel P. "Democracy's Third Wave." ''Journal of Democracy'' 2(2)(1991): 12–34, p. 24. [https://www.ned.org/docs/Samuel-P-Huntington-Democracy-Third-Wave.pdf]</ref> He also held that "Islamic doctrine ... contains elements that may be both congenial and uncongenial to democracy," but generally thought that Islam was an obstacle to democratization.<ref>Huntington, Samuel P. "Democracy's Third Wave." ''Journal of Democracy'' 2(2)(1991): 12–34, p. 24.</ref> In contrast, [[Alfred Stepan]] was more optimistic about the compatibility of different religions and democracy.<ref>Stepan, Alfred C. "Religion, Democracy, and the "Twin Tolerations"." ''Journal of Democracy'' 11(4) 2000: 37–57.</ref>

[[File:Masjid al-Qiblatain.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The compatibility of Islam and democracy continues to be a focus of discussion; the image depicts a mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.]]
[[Steven Fish]] and [[Robert Barro]] have linked Islam to undemocratic outcomes.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fish|first=M. Steven|date=October 2002|title=Islam and Authoritarianism|journal=World Politics|language=en|volume=55|issue=1|pages=4–37|doi=10.1353/wp.2003.0004|s2cid=44555086|issn=1086-3338}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barro|first=Robert J.|date=1999-12-01|title=Determinants of Democracy|journal=Journal of Political Economy|volume=107|issue=S6|pages=S158–S183|doi=10.1086/250107|s2cid=216077816 |issn=0022-3808|url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:3451297}}</ref> However, Michael Ross argues that the lack of democracies in some parts of the Muslim world has more to do with the adverse effects of the resource curse than Islam.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ross|first=Michael L.|date=February 2008|title=Oil, Islam, and Women|journal=American Political Science Review|language=en|volume=102|issue=1|pages=107–123|doi=10.1017/S0003055408080040|s2cid=54825180|issn=1537-5943}}</ref> Lisa Blaydes and Eric Chaney have linked the democratic divergence between the West and the Middle-East to the reliance on [[mamluk]]s (slave soldiers) by Muslim rulers whereas European rulers had to rely on local elites for military forces, thus giving those elites bargaining power to push for representative government.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Blaydes|first1=Lisa|last2=Chaney|first2=Eric|date=2013|title=The Feudal Revolution and Europe's Rise: Political Divergence of the Christian West and the Muslim World before 1500 CE|journal=American Political Science Review|language=en|volume=107|issue=1|pages=16–34|doi=10.1017/S0003055412000561|s2cid=33455840|issn=0003-0554}}</ref>

Robert Dahl argued, in ''On Democracy'', that countries with a "democratic political culture" were more prone for democratization and democratic survival.<ref name=":4" /> He also argued that cultural homogeneity and smallness contribute to democratic survival.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/sizedemocracy0000dahl|url-access=registration|title=Size and Democracy|last1=Dahl|first1=Robert Alan|last2=Tufte|first2=Edward R.|date=1973|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-0834-0|language=en}}</ref> Other scholars have however challenged the notion that small states and homogeneity strengthen democracy.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Erk|first1=Jan|last2=Veenendaal|first2=Wouter|date=2014-07-14|title=Is Small Really Beautiful?: The Microstate Mistake|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/549504|journal=Journal of Democracy|language=en|volume=25|issue=3|pages=135–148|doi=10.1353/jod.2014.0054|s2cid=155086258|issn=1086-3214|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

A 2012 study found that areas in Africa with Protestant missionaries were more likely to become stable democracies.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Woodberry|first=Robert D.|date=2012|title=The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy|journal=The American Political Science Review|volume=106|issue=2|pages=244–274|doi=10.1017/S0003055412000093|jstor=41495078|s2cid=54677100|issn=0003-0554}}</ref> A 2020 study failed to replicate those findings.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nikolova|first1=Elena|last2=Polansky|first2=Jakub|date=2020|title=Conversionary Protestants Do Not Cause Democracy|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-political-science/article/abs/conversionary-protestants-do-not-cause-democracy/89D4552E3CEED18F62E94E4ABEF322F6|journal=British Journal of Political Science|volume=51|issue=4|language=en|pages=1723–1733|doi=10.1017/S0007123420000174|hdl=10419/214629 |s2cid=234540943|issn=0007-1234|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

Sirianne Dahlum and Carl Henrik Knutsen offer a test of the Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel revised version of modernization theory, which focuses on cultural traits triggered by economic development that are presumed to be conducive to democratization.<ref>Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel, ''Modernization, Cultural Change, and Democracy''. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2005; Dahlum, S., & Knutsen, C., "Democracy by Demand? Reinvestigating the Effect of Self-expression Values on Political Regime Type." ''British Journal of Political Science'' 47(2)(2017): 437–61.</ref> They find "no empirical support" for the Inglehart and  Welzel thesis and conclude that "self-expression values do not enhance democracy levels or democratization chances, and neither do they stabilize existing democracies."<ref>Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel, ''Modernization, Cultural Change, and Democracy''. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2005; Dahlum, S., & Knutsen, C., "Democracy by Demand? Reinvestigating the Effect of Self-expression Values on Political Regime Type." ''British Journal of Political Science'' 47(2)(2017): 437–61, p 437</ref>