Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Latin America

by Freston, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780195174762
• ISBN10: 0195174763
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-04-11
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In Latin America, evangelical Protestantism poses an increasing challenge to Catholicism's long-established religious hegemony. At the same time, the region is among the most generally democratic outside the West, despite often being labeled as 'underdeveloped.' Scholars disagree whether Latin American Protestantism, as a fast-growing and predominantly lower-class phenomenon, will encourage a political culture that is repressive and authoritarian, or if it will have democratizing effects. Drawing from a range of sources, Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Latin America provides case studies of five countries: Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. The contributors, mainly scholars based in Latin America, bring first hand-knowledge to their chapters. The result is a groundbreaking work that explores the relationship between Latin American evangelicalism and politics, its influences, manifestations, and prospects for the future. Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Latin America is one of four volumes in the series Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in the Global South, which seeks to answer the question: What happens when a revivalist religion based on scriptural orthodoxy participates in the volatile politics of the Third World? At a time when the global-political impact of another revivalist and scriptural religion - Islam - fuels vexed debate among analysts the world over, these volumes offer an unusual comparative perspective on a critical issue: the often combustible interaction of resurgent religion and the developing world's unstable politics.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Contributors	p. xxv
Abbreviations	p. xxvii
Introduction: The Many Faces of Evangelical Politics in Latin America	p. 3
Democratic Activity and Religious Practices of Evangelicals in Mexico	p. 37
From War to Reconciliation: Guatemalan Evangelicals and the Transition to Democracy, 1982-2001	p. 63
The Evolution of Protestant Participation in Nicaraguan Politics and the Rise of Evangelical Parties	p. 97
Evangelicals and Politics in Fujimori's Peru	p. 131
Religion and Democracy in Brazil: A Study of the Leading Evangelical Politicians	p. 163
Conclusion: Evangelicals and Democracy-the Experience of Latin America in Context	p. 207
References	p. 225
Index	p. 237
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