religion & politics

PS Article - Has Political Science Ignored Religion?

by Steven Kettell

Abstract

A common complaint from political scientists involved in the study of religion is that religious issues have been largely overlooked by political science. Through a content analysis of leading political science and sociology journals from 2000 to 2010, this article considers the extent of this claim. The results show that political science publications involving religious topics have been significantly fewer than those engaging with subjects typically regarded as being more central to the discipline, and markedly less numerous than religious articles in leading sociology publications. Where political science publications have engaged with religious issues, these articles have also focused on a limited number of subject areas and been concentrated in specific disciplinary subfields. The proportion of articles covering religion has shown no real increase since the turn of the century. These findings underpin calls for political scientists to take religious issues more seriously.

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APSA 2012 Meeting - Theme

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New Journal Editors - Politics and Religion

Paul A. Djupe

Denison University

I joined the faculty in 1999 holding a Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis and regularly teach courses in American politics outside of the governmental institutions. I specializes in American public opinion and political behavior, with particular interests in the political influence of religion and the nature of social network influence. Uniting these two elements is a concern for the role of organizations in packaging social interaction and mandating exposure to information. My current research investigates, among other things, gender and social networks, the social psychology of religious influence, and deliberative norms in American religion. 

Angelia R. Wilson

University of Manchester

Angelia Wilson (D.Phil, University of York; B.A. Hons. McMurry University) joined the University of Manchester in 1994. Currently, she serves on the Council of the American Political Science Association, having served previously on the APSA Committee on the Status of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgendered in the Profession (2006-2009), as chair of the APSA LGBT Caucus and a founding member of APSA Sexuality & Politics Section.

Book Review: The American Catholic Revolution: How the Sixties Changed the Church Forever

The American Catholic Revolution: How the Sixties Changed the Church Forever,
by Mark S. Massa S.J.
New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010

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Review by Steven P. Millies

Secularism and State Policies Toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey

Secularism and State Policies Toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey
(2009)

Ahmet T. Kuru
San Diego State University

Why do secular states pursue different policies toward religion? This book provides a generalizable argument about the impact of ideological struggles on the public policy making process, as well as a state-religion regimes index of 197 countries. More specifically, it analyzes why American state policies are largely tolerant of religion, whereas French and Turkish policies generally prohibit its public visibility, as seen in their bans on Muslim headscarves. In the United States, the dominant ideology is “passive secularism,” which requires the state to play a passive role, by allowing public visibility of religion. Dominant ideology in France and Turkey is “assertive secularism,” which demands that the state play an assertive role in excluding religion from the public sphere. Passive and assertive secularism became dominant in these cases through certain historical processes, particularly the presence or absence of an ancien régime based on the marriage between monarchy and hegemonic religion during state-building periods.

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Escape From Machiavellianism?

Escape From Machiavellianism? Thomist Themes in Twentieth Century Political Realism,
by Daniel Edward Young

Abstract

Political realism is often seen as vulnerable to the “Machiavellian temptation,” that is, to the bracketing out of moral principles in the conduct of statecraft. In this article, I explore the use of Thomist themes in the writings of Martin Wight (1913–1972), a seminal figure of the so-called English School of international relations theory. Scholars have commented on the Christian realist roots of the English School, but it is little noted that Wight's most famous essay, “Western Values in International Relations,” uses the language of Thomism. By exploring the use of Thomist concepts in Wight's thought and the parallels to be found in the thought of his contemporary, Thomist political philosopher Jacques Maritain, I show how he seeks to escape the realist temptation to Machiavellianism. I then go on to sketch out the possible shortcomings of this approach.

Article - Not in His Image: The Moderating Effect of Gender on Religious Appeals

Abstract

Religious appeals have been part and parcel of campaign strategy for decades. Most often, however, these appeals to have come from men, but little is known about how women would fare using religious appeals on the campaign trail. To remedy this, we used an experimental design to examine voter reaction to religious appeals from a female and a male candidate competing for an open United States Senate seat. We find that women's use of religious appeals is governed by the dynamics of tokenism — reinforcing traditional gender stereotypes and serving to reduce voter support of the female candidate. This suggests that women must be careful in using a key campaign tool traditionally employed by men, and that this may affect the extent to which female candidates can effectively shape voter perceptions on the campaign trail.

Details: Cambridge Journals Page