Religion and Growth in Human Development in Post-Communist Countries during the Twenty-First Century

The rise and fall of the Soviet Union and the communist empire was one of the distinguishing events of the twentieth century. The 21 countries that made up the Warsaw Pact simultaneously made a transition from Communism to more market-based economic systems. These countries all shared a common economic system for a prolonged period of time; however, the countries varied, and continue to vary dramatically, in terms of size, language, and religious faith traditions. During the twenty-first century, all 21 countries have experienced growth in human development. This paper seeks to identify if the differing faith traditions played a significant role in the size of growth in human development (income, education, life expectancy) for these countries