scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
JournalISSN: 1755-0491

Politics and Religion 

Cambridge University Press
About: Politics and Religion is an academic journal published by Cambridge University Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Politics & Religiosity. It has an ISSN identifier of 1755-0491. Over the lifetime, 503 publications have been published receiving 5386 citations.
Topics: Politics, Religiosity, Islam, Democracy, Secularism


Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that the perceived religiosity of an interviewer impacts respondents' expressions of personal piety and adherence to Islamic cultural norms in a sample of approximately 1,200 women in Greater Cairo.
Abstract: While public opinion research has expanded rapidly in the Islamic world since 2001, little scholarly work has examined interviewer effects related to an enumerator's religious adherence. We find that the perceived religiosity of an interviewer impacts respondents' expressions of personal piety and adherence to Islamic cultural norms in a sample of approximately 1,200 women in Greater Cairo. Muslim women indicate that they are more religious and adherent to Islamic cultural norms when interviewed by an enumerator donning the Islamic headscarf. Conversely, members of Egypt's minority Coptic Christian community report that they are less adherent to Christianity when interviewed by a veiled enumerator. Through psychological processes of strategic self-presentation of identity and impression management, the veil may trigger Muslim respondents to express what they perceive to be socially desirable (i.e., more devout) responses; in contemporary Egypt, being perceived as pious may elicit social and economic benefits. Christians appear to deemphasize their religious identity to avoid appearing at odds with the dominant, Muslim majority to which the enumerator appears to belong. Younger, poorer and less educated women — who may be most susceptible to concerns about social desirability — show the largest effects.

79 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that once the core autonomy prerequisite has been fulfilled, further separation of Church and state is not necessarily associated with higher levels of democracy, and they conclude that there is a wide range of Church-state arrangements which give religion the possibility of a central role in political life while maintaining a high quality of democratic rights and freedoms.
Abstract: One of the essential characteristics of a democratic regime is the separation of Church and state. The elected governors of a democratic regime's institutions require sufficient autonomy in order to make policy that is within the bounds of the constitution and which cannot be contested or overruled by non-elected religious leaders or institutions. However, this requirement is often confused by scholars and politicians to mean that a democracy must also be secular. Therefore, the idea of an “Islamic democracy” for example, is often derided as a contradiction in terms. Using quantitative data from Grim and Finke (2006) and Fox (2006) on cross-national Church and state relationships, this article argues that once the core autonomy prerequisite has been fulfilled, further separation of Church and state is not necessarily associated with higher levels of democracy. In fact, the data indicate that there is a wide range of Church-state arrangements which gives religion the possibility of a central role in political life while maintaining a high quality of democratic rights and freedoms. Drawing on the statistical results of this analysis, the article concludes by rethinking about the possibilities and limits for “public” religion to strengthen democratization processes.

75 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) acts as an instrument of foreign policy (FP), and the factors that allow such an instrumentalization of Islam in Turkish FP are discussed.
Abstract: How does Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) act as an instrument of foreign policy (FP)? What are the factors that allow such an instrumentalization of Islam in Turkish FP? In addressing these questions, this paper uses semi-structured expert interviews from Bulgaria and the Netherlands. Although both countries host a sizeable Muslim minority, these populations differ in their characteristics and historical ties with Turkey. Comparing Diyanet’s role in the Netherlands with its recent Turkish-Muslim diaspora, and in Bulgaria with its centuries-old Muslim minority allows us to reveal variation in the practical engagement strategies that Diyanet adopts in different country contexts. Thus, this paper advances two main claims; first, Diyanet serves as a primary FP tool of Turkey in countries with a significant Turkish-Muslim minority. Secondly, this instrumentalization destabilizes secularization projects both at home and abroad.

61 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The role of religiosity as an important predictor of partisan identification has been well researched over the years, with most of our understanding of religion focused on Christianity as mentioned in this paper, however, it is not clear that religiosity operates equally for the partisan identification of non-Christian religious groups.
Abstract: The role of religiosity as an important predictor of partisan identification has been well researched over the years, with most of our understanding of religion focused on Christianity. However, it is not clear that religiosity operates equally for the partisan identification of non-Christian religious groups. One of the most discussed religious minority groups in the United States today is Muslim-Americans. Numbering between 2.3 million and 7 million, Muslim-Americans have been the focus of considerable debate regarding religion and American political inclusion. We argue that religiosity does influence Muslim-American party identification, however not in the same manner as with other groups. While the two major political parties encourage religiosity among Protestants, Jews, and Catholics, they are either silent or opposed to religiosity among Muslims within their parties. Thus, religiosity among Muslim-Americans may not necessarily lead to partisan identification with either Republicans or Democrats. Rather, high levels of religiosity, coupled with perceptions of discrimination against Muslims, may lead many to oppose both major political parties and instead identify with "none of the above." This is not to say that Muslim-Americans reject civic engagement or political participation in the United States, but rather the two

59 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Using a nationwide survey of American Muslims conducted in 2004, this paper evaluated models of political participation, specifically the influence of religious characteristics, political resources, social structures, and political awareness on Muslims' reported political participation.
Abstract: Using a nationwide survey of American Muslims conducted in 2004, we evaluate models of political participation, specifically the influence of religious characteristics, political resources, social structures, and political awareness on Muslims' reported political participation. American Muslims reported extremely high rates of political participation in comparison to the general public and in this regard are model citizens. Using path analysis, our findings concluded that religious beliefs were negatively associated with political participation, while measures of religious resources were positively related to participation. Social structures had mixed influence in most cases statistically indistinguishable from zero. Political resources and measures of political awareness, specifically feelings of anxiety following 9/11, were positively associated with participation.

54 citations

Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Journal in previous years
YearPapers
202316
202243
202150
202035
201937
201822