Title
Reconceptualizing Church and State: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Separation of Religion and State on Democracy
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This article argues that the relationship between democracy and the separation of religion and state needs to be reexamined. We argue that previous studies have misconceptualized the impact that a lack of church-state separation can have on democracy, or have taken a narrow focus by concentrating on specific cases. We use principal component analysis and a large-n data set covering 125 countries to show that the separation of religion and state should be conceptualized multi-dimensionally and that it should be considered a component of democracy. Our findings show that as separation of religion and state increases, the level of democracy also increases.
Department(s)
History, Philosophy and Political Science
Publication Title
Politics and Religion
Volume
4
Issue
2
First Page
229
Last Page
263
Publication Date
8-1-2011
DOI
10.1017/S1755048311000137
ISSN
1755-0483
E-ISSN
1755-0491
Recommended Citation
Brathwaite, Robert and Bramsen, Andrew, "Reconceptualizing Church and State: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Separation of Religion and State on Democracy" (2011). Political Science Faculty Publications. 2.
https://spark.bethel.edu/political-science-faculty/2