Unexpected Consequences of State Support for Religion
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- ISBN 9781041332473
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 27 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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The Unexpected Consequences of State Support for Religion: An Empirical Analysis of Christian-Majority addresses the consequences of one of the most basic decisions a government must make when dealing with religion: the decision to support a state religion or to provide separation of religion and state and religious freedom.
Drawing on the rational choice literature on religion and politics as well as the broader literature on religion in the social sciences, this book takes the perspective that politicians and governments decide on government religion policy based on their own interests. It tests five potential consequences of supporting a state religion in Christina-majority countries: religiosity (how religious are people in the country?), governmental legitimacy, levels of both public and private morality in a country, social trust, and patterns of violence and social unrest. Many of the empirical analyses reveal unexpected costs and benefits to supporting a state religion. For example, while most assume that when governments support a religion it is at least in part because they believe it will increase their legitimacy, this book finds, with some exceptions, that it accomplishes the opposite. Similarly, it finds an incentive structure that perversely incentivizes increased discrimination against religious minorities.
The Unexpected Consequences of State Support for Religion will appeal to scholars and students of Politics, Religion and Sociology, particularly those interested in Christian Nationalism, and Government and state politics.
Jonathan Fox (Ph.D. in Government and Politics, University of Maryland, 1997) is the Yehuda Avner Professor of Religion and Politics at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and director of the Religion and State project. He has received distinguished scholar awards form the International Studies Association and the American political Science Association. His research focuses on a wide variety of aspects of religion and politics including government religion police, religious minorities, religious conflict, and religion in international relations.
Marie Eisenstein (Ph.D. in Political Science, Purdue University, 2004) is an associate professor of Political Science at Indiana University Northwest. Her research expertise is in political behavior, predominantly focused within religion and politics. She has published extensively on the role of political tolerance. In addition, she publishes on issues of social trust.
Ariel Zellman (Ph.D. in Political Science, Northwestern University, 2012) is a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and co- director of the Religion and State project. His primary research examines the causes of violent interstate and intrastate conflict, with a particular focus on religion, nationalism, and protracted territorial disputes. His broader work includes quantitative comparative study of government-religion policy’s influences on political and societal outcomes.
