ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a historical overview of the regulation of prostitution policy and homosexuality policy in Europe over a period of more than fifty years (1960–2018). Theoretical expectations are then explored via descriptive statistics and basic statistical analyses, which support the argument that opposition parties use value-loaded issues along with a wedge-issue competition logic, aiming either at dividing the members of one ruling party or of governing partners (government coalitions). Finally, the study reveals that not only secular opposition parties but also religious (niche) parties in the opposition politicize morality policies under certain conditions and thereby use religion strategically rather than as a fundamental normative doctrine.
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Euchner, EM. (2019). The Rise and Fall of Morality Policies in Austria, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. In: Morality Politics in a Secular Age. Comparative Studies of Political Agendas. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10537-2_5
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