Church, State, and Democracy in Expanding Europe

ISBN-13: 9780195337105 / Angielski / Twarda / 2011 / 304 str.

Lavinia Stan;Lucian Turcescu

Opis

Lavinia Stan and Lucian Turcescu examine the relationship between religion and politics in ten former communist Eastern European countries. Contrary to widespread theories of increasing secularization, Stan and Turcescu argue that in most of these countries, the populations have shown themselves to remain religious even as they embrace modernization and democratization.

Church-state relations in the new EU member states can be seen in political representation for church leaders, governmental subsidies, registration of religions by the state, and religious instruction in public schools. Stan and Turcescu outline three major models: the Czech church-state separation model, in which religion is private and the government secular; the pluralist model of Hungary, Bulgaria and Latvia, which views society as a group of complementary but autonomous spheres - for example, education, the family, and religion - each of which is worthy of recognition and support from the state; and the dominant religion model that exists in Poland, Romania, Estonia, and Lithuania, in which the government maintains informal ties to the religious majority.

Church, State, and Democracy in Expanding Europe offers critical tools for understanding church-state relations in an increasingly modern and democratic Eastern Europe.

Recenzje

Stan and Turcescu are to be commended for making available, in a highly readable work, the contents of this critical debate inside the EU. The book will appeal to anyone interested in the intersection of religion, statehood, nationalism and civil society among the newer members of the EU. It may also be beneficial to those interested in the legacy of repressive governments during World War II and subsequent communist regimes on a countryâs culture of civil and religious intolerance.

O autorze

Stan: Assistant Professor of Political Science, Concordia University and Director of the Center for Post-Communist Studies, St. Francis Xavier University