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 …

Do colonial institutional legacies trump those of human capital development in accounting
for the stark democratic variation in former colonies?* Recent scholarship on colonialism
has leaned towards the institutional argument in the debate on the determinants of the
diverging postcolonial pathways (Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson 2001; Bernhard,
Reenock, and Nordstrom 2004; Porta et al. 1998; Sokoloff and Engerman 2000; Treisman
2000). Such a focus detracts from societal factors, which are bound to have a bearing on the …