The status of ideology in the return of political religion theory

Abstract

The aim of this article is to call to attention a body of recent scholarly literature on the perimeter of political studies and, in turn, to subject it to scrutiny according to the accepted procedure of at least one branch of political studies. To this end, what is identified as the return of political religion theory is considered from the perspective of contemporary theories of ideology. As the idea of political religion has principally resurfaced in historiographical discourse the first part of the article takes the form of a discussion piece and sets out the claims in support of the return of political religion theory on their own terms. Three approaches to political religion are then separated and evaluated. In the process, the intention is to work through the recent literature in order to pare down what is credible in it to a specific claim about the structure of political ideologies as systems of meaning. The substantive core of the idea that is left is thus considered from the point of view of a theory of ideology.