Political Christianity: Internal Organization, Preferences and Church Political Activity The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Rhodes, Christopher. 2015. Political Christianity: Internal Organization, Preferences and Church Political Activity. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:14226091 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Political Christianity: Internal Organization, Preferences and Church Political Activity A dissertation presented by Christopher Edward Rhodes to The Department of Government in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Political Science Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts November 2014 © 2014 Christopher Edward Rhodes All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisor: Professor Robert Bates Christopher Edward Rhodes Political Christianity: Internal Organization, Preferences and Church Political Activity Abstract This dissertation examines the role of internal structure of religious organizations in influencing these organizations’ interactions with incumbent governments and ultimately determining the political activities of religious groups. This dissertation fits within a body of literature known as the political economy of religion. I expand upon this literature by examining religious groups in terms of internal organization, focusing on Christian churches in Africa, with Kenya as my primary case country. The central argument of this dissertation is that churches (national-level denominations) with certain organizational features – centralized leadership, authoritarian decision-making procedures, and lack of internal accountability mechanisms – are more likely to have friendlier interactions with governments and therefore tend to adopt more pro-government political stances compared to churches that lack these features. This relationship operates through two mechanisms. First, centralized churches possess negotiation advantages over decentralized churches. Second, centralized, authoritarian churches can more easily be co-opted by incumbent governments. The dissertation also expand upon existing literature by offering a fuller and more nuanced understanding of the preferences of governments and churches vis-à-vis one another, proposing that churches seek to maximize number of church members, member faithfulness, and resources, while governments seek ideological support, citizen mobilization, and social service provision from churches. iii These arguments are examined by historical comparative case studies of five of the largest Christian denominations in Kenya over the course of the country’s first three post-independence presidents. Through qualitative historical analysis, combined with information gathered through fieldwork in Kenya, the dissertation demonstrates how the preferences of these churches and governments, mediated through the internal organizations of the churches, influenced church-state relations and ultimately determined the churches’ political stances. The impact of internal organization is greater than factors such as ethnicity or theological conservatism/liberalism. The dissertation tests these arguments through a quantitative analysis of church political orientation using national-level data on Christian churches and countries across Africa from independence through 2010. The results of the statistical analyses show significant effects of organizational features such as centralization, consistent with the arguments made concerning Kenya. The dissertation then gives brief qualitative analysis of church-state relations for several of the African churches included in the quantitative dataset. iv Table of Contents Chapter 1: Explaining Church Political Activity 1 1 Introduction 1 2 Literature Review 8 2.1 Political Economy of Religion and Church Political Activity 8 2.2 Church Political Activity in Africa 12 2.3 Churches and Politics in Kenya 17 2.4 Internal Structure of Organizations and Political Activities 21 3 Understanding Church Political Activity: Actors, Preferences and Utility 28 3.1 Actors and Preferences 29 3.1.1 Church Leaders as Individuals: Private Preferences and Utility 29 3.1.2 Churches as Organizations: Organizational Preferences and Utility 31 3.2 Government Preferences and Utility 36 4 The Effects of Internal Church Organization on Church Political Orientations 40 Argument 1 40 Argument 2 43 Argument 3 44 Argument 4 45 5 Conclusion 47 Chapter 2: Church Political Activity Under Jomo Kenyatta (1963-1978) 52 1 Introduction 52 2 Church and State in Kenya, 1963-1968 58 2.1 Churches In Kenya at Independence 58 2.2 Major Events and Church-State Relations, 1963-1968 60 2.3 Explaining Church Political Orientation Under President Kenyatta, 1963-1968 67 2.3.1 Preferences and Outcomes: Government Perspective 68 2.3.2 Preferences and Outcomes: Church (Leader) Perspective 70 2.3.3 Preferences and Outcomes: Shared Church-Government Interests 79 2.3.4 Internal Church Organization and Political Outcomes 81 3 Church Opposition to Kenyatta: The Catholic Church and School Reform, 1968 89 3.1 The Church and Education in Kenya 89 3.2 Catholic Church Opposition to the Education Act of 1968 92 3.3 Explaining Catholic Church Response to School Reform 98 4 Church Opposition Under Kenyatta: The Oathing Controversy 105 4.1 The Churches’ Respond to Oathing 105 4.2 Explaining the Oathing Controversy: Preferences and Structure 113 4.3 Ethnicity and the Churches’ Response to Oathing 116 4.4 Church Structure and the Churches’ Response to Oathing 119 5 Church Political Orientations, 1970-1978: Divergence and Continuity 121 5.1 Major Events and Church-State Relations, 1970-1978 121 5.2 Explaining Church Political Orientation Under President Kenyatta, 125 1970-1978 5.3 Structure, Preferences and Limited Divergence of Church Political 131 Orientations v 6 Conclusion 136 Chapter 3: Church Political Activity During the Moi Years: 1978-2002 139 1 Introduction 139 2 The First Nyayo Era, 1978-1985: General Church-State 146 Cooperation, Anglican Criticism . 2.1 Cordial Church-State Relations Before the 1982 Coup Attempt 146 2.1.1 Church Support, 1978-1982: Church Structure, Negotiation and Cooptation 152 2.2 The August 1982 Coup and Its Aftermath 158 2.2.1 Church Response to Government Post-Coup, 1982-1985 159 2.2.2 Divergences of Internal Church Structures and Church Political 165 Orientations 3 The Second Nyayo Era (1986-1991) 168 3.1 Queuing System Controversy and the Election: 1986-1988 169 3.1.1 Church Responses to Queuing 170 3.1.2 Church Responses to Queuing: Preferences, Structure and Cooptation 175 3.2 The Multiparty Debates: 1989-1991. 180 3.2.1 Transformation of the Catholic Church: Structural Reform and Political 181 Activism 3.2.2 Continued Debate and the End of the One-Party State 186 4 The Multi-Party Democracy Era, 1992-2002 194 4.1 Church Involvement in the 1992 Election 194 4.2 Church Involvement in the 1997 Election 199 4.3 Church Involvement in the 2002 Election 205 5 Conclusion 209 Chapter 4: Church Political Activity During the Kibaki Years: 2002-2012 212 1 Introduction 212 2 Constitutional Review and Referendum, 2002-2005 216 2.1 The Early Kibaki Years, 2002-2004: From Optimism to Scandal 216 2.2 Government Constraints, Incompatible Preferences, and the Limits of 223 Structure 2.3 Failed Constitutional Reform, 2004-2005 232 2.4 Government and Church Preferences and Constitutional Reform 243 3 National Elections and Post-Election Violence, 2005-2008 247 3.1 Negotiation, Cooptation and Appeals to Church Preferences 247 3.2 Top Level Church Leaders’ Support for Incumbent Government 254 3.3 Top Level Support and Defections: The Role of Church Structure in 261 Influencing Church Political Stands 3.4 The Limited Role of Ethnicity in Determining Church Political Stands 264 4 Renewed Constitutional Review and 2010 Referendum 266 4.1 Churches’ Objections and Campaign Concerning 2010 Constitution Draft 266 4.2 Explaining Church Opposition to 2010 Constitution Draft: Institutional 274 Constraints and Incompatibilities Church and Government Preferences 5 Conclusion 287 vi Chapter 5 Conclusion 290 1 Introduction 290 2 Church Political Orientation in Kenya: Structure and Preferences 293 2.1 Church Structure and Church-State Relations: Negotiation and Cooptation 293 2.2 Church and State Preferences and Church-State Relations 297 2.2.1 Toward a More Complete Understanding of Church and State Preferences 297 2.2.2 The Role of Preferences in Influencing Church-State Interactions 300 2.2.3 Incompatibilities Between Church and State Preferences and 303 Church-State Conflict 3 Church Political Orientation in Africa: Quantitative Analysis 308 3.1 Dependent Variable: Church Political Orientation 309 3.2 Independent Variables 314 3.3 Results and Robustness Checks 322 4 Church Structure and Political Orientation: A Brief Survey of African Churches 329 4.1 Internal Structure and Political Orientation of Catholic Churches 329 4.2 Internal Structure and Political Orientation of Orthodox Churches 330 4.2.1 Internal Structure and Political Orientation of Orthodox Churches in 335 Comparative Perspective 4.3 Internal Structure and Political Orientation