Abstract This article proposes a theory of mosque regulation to explain why state-mosque relations vary at the subnational level in Europe, using Belgium’s regions as comparative cases. Focusing on Belgium’s policy of formal recognition for mosque-communities, I argue that regulatory outcomes emerge from strategic interactions between local officials and mosque leaders, each responding to distinct audience pressures. I draw from original data on 270 mosques and 52 semi-structured interviews to argue that partisanship shapes regulatory practices: left-leaning governments pursue cooperative regulation to court minority voters, while right-wing officials adopt combative approaches to appease anti-Muslim constituencies. Mosque leaders, in turn, consider reputational costs when deciding whether to engage with the state, often pursuing recognition not for material gain but to signal trustworthiness to the broader public. These findings contribute to an emerging scholarship on the political behavior of Muslim leadership, as well as to broader literatures on minority incorporation and subnational governance.

Abstract Political crises play a pivotal role in shaping political secularization across sub-Saharan Africa. Côte d’Ivoire, located in the heart of French-speaking West Africa, exemplifies how such crises can catalyze secularist dynamics at the political level. From the early 1990s through the 2020s, especially following the near-overthrow of the government by armed rebels in 2002, it became increasingly apparent to many politicians that institutional religious leaders, both Christian and Muslim, should step back from political involvement. This process of secularization, driven by politicians, remains confined to the political sphere and has yet to permeate broader society and culture. This paper is based on fieldwork and data collected in Côte d’Ivoire between 2017 and 2020, including interviews, archival material from political parties, major newspapers, and religious organizations. Resources from the Pew Research Center further inform this research.

Abstract This paper explores the paradox of secularism in Chile’s 2022 constitutional proposal, celebrated as the “world’s most progressive” yet decisively rejected in a national referendum. The drafters sought to secularize Chile’s political institutions by curbing the influence of mainstream religions—above all, Catholicism—while simultaneously granting broad recognition and autonomy to Indigenous worldviews, including their spiritual and ritual dimensions. This dual strategy raises the question of whether the constitution merely substituted one religious framework for another under the guise of decolonial justice. To explain this apparent contradiction, the paper distinguishes between two axes of division: a first-order cleavage of oppressors vs. oppressed, which shaped the draft’s core commitments, and a secondary secular vs. religious cleavage, which played a subordinate role. The analysis concludes that Indigenous worldviews were embraced not as religious doctrines but as expressions of historically wronged communities deserving redress, whereas institutional religion was sidelined as a marker of colonial oppression. The paper contributes to debates on constitution-making and secularism in non-European contexts, illustrating how secular projects can entangle with alternative substantive doctrines in pursuit of historical justice.

Abstract This comparative study explores the relationship between political and personal religious attitudes and their impact on reconciliation and tolerance in conflicts. Using survey data from 2,171 respondents across Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, the research highlights the mediating role of religious conflict perception in shaping attitudes toward reconciliation. The findings challenge deterministic views of religion’s role in protracted conflict, showing that while political–religious attitudes correlate with a rejection of reconciliation, personal religious attitudes do not. Rather, the interplay of religious attitudes, justice perceptions, and conflict narratives shapes these attitudes. In internal political conflicts, the adoption of religious attitudes does not always correlate with intolerance. The study integrates constructivist and instrumentalist perspectives, demonstrating that the role of religion in conflict is context-dependent. It also shows that, regardless of religious affiliation, political and personal religious orientations similarly influence attitudes toward reconciliation and tolerance, offering important insights for intergroup and conflict resolution strategies.

Abstract Does deference to religious authority undermine support for democratic norms, including those forbidding the use of violence for political ends? Scholars have struggled to answer this question, in part, we believe, because they have typically employed proxies for religious deference (e.g. Biblical literalism, worship attendance, and self-reported religiosity) instead of measuring it directly. We develop a new measure of deference to religious authority in politics (DRAP), using the 2024 Chapman Survey of American Fears. We find that (1) DRAP is strongly correlated with support for political violence; (2) other common measures of religiosity (e.g. Biblical literalism and self-reported religiosity) are generally uncorrelated with support for political violence once the effects of our new measure are taken into account; and (3) the positive relationship between DRAP and support for political violence is more pronounced among respondents with low levels of religious participation.

Abstract Christian Nationalism has been an increasing focus of scholars as it has seemingly come to dominate much of the Republican Party and its voters. Existing research, however, has focused almost exclusively on individual attitudes. In this article, I examine a key piece of the Christian Nationalist agenda, policy change at the state level, seeking to change individuals’ perception of the religious foundations of the United States through symbolic legislation. I focus on Project Blitz, an organization that creates model bills for state legislators to introduce all over the country. Project Blitz is an explicitly Christian Nationalist effort, and its origins and supporters help demonstrate a key missing piece of the scholarly and popular conversation about Christian Nationalism: the current power and influence of Christian Nationalist attitudes and activities is based on the historical influence of the Christian Right social movement.

Abstract This study evaluates the extent of separation of religion and state (SRAS) in 28 countries which were European Union members in 2014 using data from the Religion and State (RAS) dataset. It applies three different standards of SRAS: absolute separationism, neutralism, and laicite. The results show that none of these countries meet a “zero-tolerance” application of any of these standards, and only five meet even very loose interpretations of any of these standards. In addition, no EU state provides full religious freedom to their religious minorities. Finally, EU states have less SRAS when compared to non-EU democracies. This calls into question either the assumption that SRAS and religious freedom are essential elements of liberal democracy or the assumption that the European Union’s member states are, in fact, liberal democracies. It also calls into question the extent of the West’s secularity.

Abstract Does religious affiliation affect evaluations of the president’s policy performance? We examine support for President Barack Obama’s handling of seven policy areas using data from the Pew Research Center. We show that the intersection of race/ethnicity and religion drives support for Obama’s policy performance and that religion’s impact transcends that of partisanship. Compared to Black Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, non-Hispanic Catholics, and (to a lesser extent) seculars and mainline Protestants are significantly less approving of Obama’s policy performance. The most striking result in this study concerns the differences between Black Protestants and evangelicals, as the latter group is consistently opposed to Obama’s handling of policy, whether domestic or international. Taken together, our findings reveal that the political significance of religious affiliation on presidential policy approval intersects powerfully with race/ethnicity.

Abstract While much has been written about urban-educated women’s veiling in recent decades, the proliferation of veiling, or wearing a burqa, among ordinary rural women has received little attention. This paper is an attempt at such an inquiry in the context of Bangladesh. It juxtaposes historical, literary, and theological resources with recently collected ethnographic and interview data to show how the landscape of veiling has radically transformed in rural Bangladesh and suggests that ordinary rural women’s veiling cannot be interpreted as either their choice or an imposition on them. It illustrates how women choose to don a veil in compliance with the community’s expectations while simultaneously resisting its prescription of putting on a specific pattern of burqa. In other words, the paper shows how veiling has become a site for women’s complex negotiations with community norms, liberal women’s rights discourse, and legal regimes. This negotiation process, it argues, constructs women as distinct subjects who are neither liberal nor Islamic but are constantly in the process of self-constitution.