Abstract
Religious freedom (RF) is important because it is posited to be a central element of liberal democracy and as having multiple additional benefits including increased security and economic prosperity. Yet, it is also a disputed concept and many liberal democracies restrict the freedoms of religious minorities. This study uses the Religion and State (RAS) dataset to examine the extent of RF in 183 countries based on six definitions of RF. The author examines whether religious minorities are restricted in a manner that the majority is not, regulation of the majority religion, and imposition of precepts of the majority religion on a country’s population. He finds that very few countries, including liberal democracies, meet any standard for RF, even when one allows for ‘loose’ standards where some violations of RF are allowed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 321-341 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | Social Compass |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Author(s) 2021.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 23/14), The German-Israel Foundation (Grant 1291-119.4/2015), and the John Templeton Foundation. Any opinions expressed in this study are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the supporters of this research.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| German–Israel Foundation | 1291-119.4/2015 |
| John Templeton Foundation | |
| Israel Science Foundation | 23/14 |
Keywords
- liberal democracy
- minorities
- religious freedom
- security