Religion and Support for Democracy: A Crossnational Examination

Meyer, Katherine; Tope, Daniel; Price, Anne

doi:10.1080/02732170802206260

Cited by 23 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Our earlier analysis based on the 1999–2001 WVS/EVS documented almost universal support for democratic values in thirteen Islamic societies, with attitudes towards gender equality and sexual liberalization forming the sharpest cleavage dividing Islamic and Western societies (Inglehart and Norris, 2003b). Subsequent studies have further confirmed these patterns in Muslim-majority countries (Dixon, 2008; Meyer et al , 2008). Nevertheless these conclusions need to be revisited, since others have argued that the comparison of Muslim majority societies disguises important subcultures, as attitudes towards democracy and gender equality in the Arab region differ from those of Muslim societies in Asia and elsewhere (Rizzo et al , 2007).…”

Section: Comparative Framework Evidence and Research Designmentioning

confidence: 76%

Muslim Integration into Western Cultures: Between Origins and Destinations

2012

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To what extent do migrants carry their culture with them, and to what extent do they acquire the culture of their new home? The answer not only has important political implications; it also helps us understand the extent to which basic cultural values are enduring or malleable; and whether cultural values are traits of individuals or are attributes of a given society. Part I considers theories about the impact of growing social diversity in Western nations. We classify two categories of society: ORIGINS (defined as Islamic Countries of Origin for Muslim migrants, including twenty nations with plurality Muslim populations) and DESTINATIONS (defined as Western Countries of Destination for Muslim migrants, including twenty-two OECD member states with Protestant or Roman Catholic majority populations).1 Using this framework, we demonstrate that on average, the basic social values of Muslim migrants fall roughly mid-way between those prevailing in their country of origin and their country of destination. We conclude that Muslim migrants do not move to Western countries with rigidly fixed attitudes; instead, they gradually absorb much of the host culture, as assimilation theories suggest.

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Section: Comparative Framework Evidence and Research Designmentioning

confidence: 76%

Muslim Integration into Western Cultures: Between Origins and Destinations

2012

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“…We used data from Waves 4 and 5 of the WVS, collected in 1999-2001 and 2005-07 respectively. Since individuals with no experience with democratic forms of governance might have unreliable evaluations of democracy and democratic institutions, 52 countries classified as 'not free' by Freedom House in the year in which data were collected were omitted from the analysis. Additionally, a number of countries were not included in the final analysis because necessary items were missing.…”

Section: The Model and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion and Support for Democracy: A Cross-National Test of the Mediating Mechanisms

Bloom¹,

Arıkan²

2012

Brit. J. Polit. Sci.

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Religion can be a source of undemocratic attitudes but also a contributor to democratic norms. This article argues that different dimensions of religiosity generate contrasting effects on democratic attitudes through different mechanisms. The private aspect of religious belief is associated with traditional and survival values, which in turn decrease both overt and intrinsic support for democracy. The communal aspect of religious social behaviour increases political interest and trust in institutions, which in turn typically lead to more support for democracy. Results from multilevel path analyses using data from fifty-four countries from Waves 4 and 5 of the World Values Survey suggest there is some regularity in mechanisms responsible for the effect of religiosity on democratic support that extend beyond religious denomination.With the resurgence of religion as a political force shaping individual identities and political dynamics, as in the emergence of the Christian right in the United States, the return of British Red Toryism, Sarkozy's defence of France's Christian roots and Berlusconi's efforts to legislate a ban on abortion in Italy, the debate over whether religiosity may be a threat to democratic values has intensified. While some scholars argue that religion is related to prejudice and political intolerance that challenge democratic norms, 1 others stress the importance of religious social networks for the development of civic skills and norms that can have a positive effect on support for democracy. 2 Nonetheless, relatively little research has been dedicated to explaining the complex relationship between religiosity and democratic attitudes, which has been coined 'the

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“…On the other hand, a number of studies (e.g., Ciftci ; Hofmann ; Jamal ; Meyer, Tope, and Price ) do not find any effect of religious behavior on political participation or attitudes towards democratic values. A plausible reason for why various empirical studies come to different conclusions may be that the impact of religious behavior is context dependent.…”

Section: The Subdimensions Of Religion and Democracymentioning

confidence: 91%

A Clash of Civilizations? Muslims, Christians, and Preferences for Democracy

Rafiqi

2019

Scientific Study of Religion

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The incompatibility of Islam with democracy has been the focal point of many public and scholarly debates. However, very few studies have attempted to investigate empirically whether the followers of Islam are less favorable to democracy than the followers of Christianity. This study extends previous research by conducting empirical and representative analyses of whether Muslims in general and religious and practicing Muslims in particular prefer democracy less than their Christian counterparts. Using country fixed effects regression and data from the World Values Survey (WVS6) that include 52,326 Muslims and Christians, the analyses show that Muslims in general, as well as religious and practicing Muslims, endorse democracy to the same extent as do Christians. Thereby, this study is the first to provide comparative, individual‐level evidence of the influence these religions may have on democratic attitudes.

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Religion and Support for Democracy: A Crossnational Examination

Cited by 23 publications

References 49 publications

Muslim Integration into Western Cultures: Between Origins and Destinations

Muslim Integration into Western Cultures: Between Origins and Destinations

Religion and Support for Democracy: A Cross-National Test of the Mediating Mechanisms

A Clash of Civilizations? Muslims, Christians, and Preferences for Democracy

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