Missionary Activity, Education, and Long-Run Political Development: Evidence Across Regime Types in Africa

Soeren J. Henn, Horacio Larreguy, Carlos Schmidt-Padilla, Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Economics and Political Science, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California

Comparative Political Studies

Published online on August 29, 2025

Abstract

Comparative Political Studies, Volume 59, Issue 9, Page 1896-1931, August 2026.
In Africa, missionaries used schooling to gain adherents. We study how historical missionary activity shaped long-run education and political development across regime types. We exploit plausibly exogenous variation in exposure to Catholic missionaries ...