Institutional opportunity structures and the Catholic Church: explaining variation in the regulation of same-sex partnerships in Ireland and Italy

Abstract

Over recent decades, factors such as religion and, specifically, Catholicism have emerged as key variables in the explanation of policy outputs and dynamics with regard to so-called morality issues. However, the standard theoretical arguments do not capture the whole story, as a comparison of same-sex partnership policies in Italy and Ireland shows. Based on existing approaches, we would not have expected that the more religious Ireland would move faster than Italy in adopting an act recognizing homosexual couples in social, tax and inheritance law. A closer examination of the policy process in the two countries reveals that the success and duration of decision-making in morality policies is affected by the institutional opportunity structures of the political system. They define the scope conditions for the Catholic Church to act as veto power and determine the government's policy style for resolving value conflicts.

A matter of timing: The religious factor and morality policies

“…Furthermore, it could be the case that the informal state–religion relationship is of greater explanatory relevance than formal structures. Case studies on the more informal aspects of the state–religion relationship provide support for this argument (Knill & Preidel, ; Knill et al, ). Finally, the analysis reveals that the effect of the religious affiliation of the population increases over time when we look at our whole sample.…”

Religious influence in policy-making: a case of sexual education in Lithuania

“…The same-sex partnership legislation processes in Italy and Ireland, both states with large Catholic communities and strong Catholic Churches were examined by Knill & Preidel (2015). Nevertheless, Ireland adopted legislation recognizing homosexual couples in tax, social and inheritance law sooner than Italy.…”

“…Nevertheless, Ireland adopted legislation recognizing homosexual couples in tax, social and inheritance law sooner than Italy. These differences are attributed to states' different institutional settings that constrain or empower various actors in pursuing their interests in policy-making (Knill & Preidel, 2015). In Italy, the strong fragmentation of executive power and lack of strong executive leadership resulted in access points for the Catholic Church as it was able to exploit such fragmentation.…”

Whatever happened to Italy? The Crisis of the Italian Pattern of Development in the Era of Globalization

“…After the unexpected collapse of the political system based on the hegemony of the Christian Democrats (1992)(1993)(1994), the presence of Catholic politicians and the relationships with the Church hierarchy and Catholic organizations have been increasing across the political spectrum, in order to generate an exchange between (short-term) electoral support and benefits for the religious institutions and values (Garelli 2013) 13 . There are numerous examples: the exemption from property taxes, the discipline of conscientious objection to abortion, the public financial support to private schools, the resistance to same-sex marriage (Knill and Preidel 2015) and so on.…”