Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Here to Stay: The Role of Religion in Contemporary Politics

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Political Science of Religion

  • 539 Accesses

Abstract

Despite gradual elimination of religion’s institutional and normative links with the modern Western state, the loss of its legitimating function and its withdrawal from many spheres of social life, religious organizations remain active in the public sphere. Their survival strategy consists of claiming unique philosophical and legal status for religion and, at the same time, relegitimating themselves by emulating the behaviour of other political actors in the pluralistic public arena (mimicry strategies). In addition, they use certain religion-specific strategies grounded in their supernatural claims and thus unavailable for secular actors. This chapter concludes with a multilevel analysis of the relationship between religion and political conflict, including phenomena such as religion-induced transformation of contemporary states, religious symbolic conflict and religious extremism.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    “Successfully” does not necessarily mean without conflicts between confessions and sects within Christianity or between the church and secular rulers (over investiture, for instance). Nonetheless, nobody had seriously challenged the basic belief in the divine origin of power, even if the particulars of the relation between God and the ruler, whether it should be mediated by the church and so on, were hotly disputed.

  2. 2.

    Stark and Finke list “disenchantment” among the unfulfilled secularization prophecies (2000, 58), but Weber seemed to have in mind the process whereby various spheres of life, including the political sphere, cease to be perceived from a religious perspective, as intimately linked with religion, sacralization—and not the disappearance of religiosity as such.

  3. 3.

    The term “non-overlapping magisteria” (NOMA) originally comes from Stephen J. Gould’s Rocks of Ages.

  4. 4.

    See Constitution of the Republic of Iceland, art. 62; The Constitutional Act of Denmark, art. 4; Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, art. 16; Constitution of Greece, art. 3; Constitution of Malta, art. 2; Constitution of the Principality of Liechtenstein, art. 37.

  5. 5.

    Constitution of the Republic of Poland, Constitution of Ireland, Constitution of Greece. See Szymanek 2011 for a general discussion of the constitutional expression of the idea of a confessional state.

  6. 6.

    This extensive interpretation of religious freedom was reversed in the 1990s by the divided Supreme Court among hot political controversy (Potz 2015, chaps. 2 and 5).

  7. 7.

    Art. 196 of the Polish penal code.

  8. 8.

    For instance, according to the findings of Wave 6 (2010–2014) of World Values Survey, fewer than 10%, and in most cases only 2–4% of Europeans think it is essential that religious authorities interpret the laws in democracy (World Values Survey).

  9. 9.

    Some of the examples in the following discussion are mine.

References

  • Atran, S. (2016). The Devoted Actor, Unconditional Commitment and Intractable Conflict Across Cultures. Current Anthropology, 57(Supplement 13).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellah, R. (2006). Civil Religion in America. In R. Bellah & S. M. Tipton (Eds.), Robert Bellah Reader. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burleigh, M. (2006). Sacred Causes. Religion and Politics from the European Dictators to Al Qaeda. London: Harper Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, G., & Kniss, F. (2013). Religion in Social Movements. In D. Snow, D. d. Porta, B. Klandermans, & D. McAdam (Eds.), Willey-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements. Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, S. L. (1993). The Culture of Disbelief. New York: BasicBooks.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (2007). Deliberative Democracy. In S. W. Rosenberg (Ed.), Deliberation, Participation and Democracy. Can the People Govern? New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constitution of Greece. Retrieved December 12, 2018, from http://www.hri.org/docs/syntagma.

  • Constitution of Ireland. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Historical_Information/The_Constitution/February_2015_-_Constitution_of_Ireland_.pdf.

  • Constitution of Malta. Retrieved December 23, 2018, from http://justiceservices.gov.mt/DownloadDocument.aspx?app=lom&itemid=8566.

  • Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway. Retrieved December 22, 2018, from http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/no00000_.html.

  • Constitution of the Principality of Liechtenstein. Retrieved December 18, 2018, from https://www.llv.li/files/rdr/Verfassung-E-01-02-2014.pdf.

  • Constitution of the Republic of Iceland. Retrieved December 19, 2018, from http://www.government.is/constitution.

  • Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/angielski/kon1.htm.

  • Dawkins, R. (2008). The God Delusion. Boston and New York: Mariner Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolnik, A., & Gunaratna, R. (2006). On the Nature of Religious Terrorism. In J. Haynes (Ed.), The Politics of Religion. A Survey. New York and London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dudek, A. (2016). Historia polityczna Polski: 1989–2015. Kraków: Znak Horyzont.

    Google Scholar 

  • Durkheim, E. (1995). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Values Survey. Retrieved December 14, 2018, from https://europeanvaluesstudy.eu/about-evs/research-topics/religion.

  • Fukuyama, F. (2011). The Origins of Political Order. In From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution. Farrar, New York: Straus & Giraux.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furniere, A. (2015). Lessons in Religion No Longer Obligatory in Belgium, Flanders Today, March 15. Retrieved December 15, 2018, from http://www.flanderstoday.eu/education/lessons-religion-no-longer-obligatory-belgium.

  • Gallup poll on belief in God. (2016). Retrieved December 14, 2018, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/1690/religion.aspx.

  • Gallup poll on importance of religion. (2017). Retrieved December 14, 2018, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/1690/religion.aspx.

  • Gentile, E. (2000). The Sacralisation of Politics: Definitions, Interpretations and Reflections on the Question of Secular Religion and Totalitarianism, Trans. by R. Mallet, Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, 1(1), 18–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gifford, P. (2016). Religion and Politics in Contemporary Senegal. African Affairs, 115(461), 688–709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, A. (2001). Religion and Comparative Politics. Annual Review of Political Science, 4, 117–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giuriato. (2009). Combining Autocracy and Majority Voting: The Canonical Succession Rules of the Latin Church. In M. Ferrero & R. Wintrobe (Eds.), The Political Economy of Theocracy. New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Głuchowski, P., & Hołub, J. (2013). Imperator. Warszawa: Agora.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gowin, J. (1995). Kościół po komunizmie. Kraków: Znak.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenawalt, K. (2017). When Free Exercise and Nonestablishment Conflict. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hamburger, P. (2002). Separation of Church and State. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, S. (1995). Four Types of Symbolic Conflict. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 1(2), 255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haynes, J. (2006). Religious Transnational Actors. In J. Haynes (Ed.), The Politics of Religion. A Survey. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hierlemann, D. (2005). Lobbying der katholischen Kirche: das Einflussnetz des Klerus in Polen, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, quoted in: Kowalczyk Krzysztof, Partie i ugrupowania parlamentarne wobec Kościoła katolickiego w Polsce w latach 1989–2011, Szczecin: Zapol.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kintz, L., & Lesage, J. (Eds.). (1998). Media, Culture and the Religious Right. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kowalczyk, K. (2012). Partie i ugrupowania parlamentarne wobec Kościoła katolickiego w Polsce w latach 1989–2011. Szczecin: Zapol.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le savant et la foi. (1993). ed. J. Delumenau, Paris: Flammarion.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lincoln, B. (1998). Conflict. In M. C. Taylor (Ed.), Critical Terms for Religious Studies. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Llorent-Bedmar, V., & Cobano-Delgado, V. (2014). The Teaching of Religious Education in Public Schools in the Nordic Countries of Europe. Review of European Studies, 6(4).

    Google Scholar 

  • Malinowski, B. (1948). Magic, Science and Religion. In B. Malinowski (Ed.), Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays. Glencoe: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mansbridge, J. J. (1986). Why We Lost the ERA. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Modlitwa o deszcz w sejmowej kaplicy. (2006, July 21). Retrieved March 2, 2019, from Nowości. Dziennik toruński, https://nowosci.com.pl/modlitwa-o-deszcz-w-sejmowej-kaplicy/ar/11304807.

  • Neuhaus, R. J. (1986). The Naked Public Square. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noonan, J. T., Jr. (1987). The Believer and the Powers That Are: Cases, History, and Other Data Bearing on the Relation of Religion and Government. London and New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ognjenović, G., & Jozelić, J. (2016). Introduction: State, Nation and Faith. In G. Ognjenović & J. Jozelić (Eds.), Politicization of Religion, the Power of State, Nation and Faith. The Case of Former Yugoslavia and Its Successor States. New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogórek, P. (2016, November 19). Jezus Chrystus ustanowiony Królem i Panem. Gazeta Krakowska.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson, L. (2009). Clergy and American Politics. In C. E. Smidt, L. A. Kellstedt, & J. L. Guth (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poggi, G. (2001). Forms of Power. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomarański, M. (2013). ‘God bless America’. Prayer as a Political Ritual in the USA. Annales UMCS, Sectio K (Politologia) 20(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Potz, M. (2010). The Unfulfilled Promise? Deliberative Democracy vs. Political Participation. Polish Political Science Yearbook, 39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potz, M. (2015). Granice wolności religijnej. Problemy polityczno-wyznaniowe w Stanach Zjednoczonych Ameryki. Toruń: Wydawnictwo UKM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potz, Maciej. (2016). Empowerment Through Religion: Religion’s Survival Strategies in Democratic Politics. Przegląd Politologiczny, 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potz, M. (2019). Religion in Public Life. In S. P. Ramet, K. Ringdal, & K. Dośpiał-Borysiak (Eds.), Civic and Uncivic Values in Poland. Value Transformation, Education and Culture. Budapest and New York: CEU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Religia i Kościół w przestrzeni publicznej. (2013). Warszawa: CBOS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ronek, G. (2018). Stosunki między państwem a Kościołem Anglii w latach 1997–2015. In M. Marczewska-Rytko & D. Maj (Eds.), Politologia religii. Lublin: Wydawnictwo UMCS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandel, M. (1993). Freedom of Conscience or Freedom of Choice? In T. Eastland (Ed.), Religious Liberty in the Supreme Court. The Cases That Define the Debate over Church and State (pp. 483–496). Grand Rapids and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398. (1963).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherwood, H. (2018). ‘Christianity as Default Is Gone’: The Rise of a Non-Christian Europe. The Guardian, March 21. Retrieved December 14, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/christianity-non-christian-europe-young-people-survey-religion.

  • Sosis, R., & Bressler, E. R. (2003). Cooperation and Commune Longevity: A Test of the Costly Signaling Theory of Religion. Cross-Cultural Research, 37(2), 211–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sowiński, S. (2014). Polityka i religia w Polsce po roku 1989. In P. Burgoński & M. Gierycz (Eds.), Religia i polityka. Zarys problematyki. Warszawa: Elipsa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, R., & Finke, R. (2000). Acts of Faith. Explaining the Human Side of Religion. Berkley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, C. (2015). School System in Italy. Life in Italy, December 17. Retrieved December 15, 2015, from http://www.lifeinitaly.com/moving/school-system.asp.

  • Swann, W., Jetten, J., Gomez, A., Whithouse, H., & Bastian B. (2012). When Group Membership Gets Personal: A Theory of Identity Fusion. Psychological Review, 112(3).

    Google Scholar 

  • Szymanek, J. (2011). Odmiany państwa wyznaniowego. Wprowadzenie. In Państwo wyznaniowe. Doktryna, prawo i praktyka. Warszawa: Elipsa.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Constitutional Act of Denmark. Retrieved December 17, 2018, from https://www.thedanishparliament.dk/~/media/pdf/publikationer/english/my_constitutional_act_with_explanations.ashx.

  • Warner, C. (2001). Confessions of an Interest Group: The Catholic Church and Political Parties in Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wills, G. (1990). Under God. Religion and American Politics. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuba, K. (2010). The Political Strategies of the Catholic Church in Poland. Religion, State & Society, 38(2), 115–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of International and Political Studies, University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland

    Maciej Potz

Authors
  1. Maciej Potz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maciej Potz .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Potz, M. (2020). Here to Stay: The Role of Religion in Contemporary Politics. In: Political Science of Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20169-2_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation