Revival of a Cleavage? Party Competition on Religion and Secularism in Western Europe in Times of Religious Pluralization

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Matthias Kortmann
• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 452185237

Until recently, political scientists expected religion to become less relevant in West European politics and, consequently, the religious-secular cleavage in party competition to disappear eventually. This expectation was particularly due to secularization processes which have proceeded in Western Europe since the 1960s. However, recent party conflicts imply that the question of a role of (organized) religion in the public sphere seems to have become a contested issue between parties again. This can be particularly traced back to increasing religious pluralization or, more concretely, to the establishment of Muslim communities and the enhanced visibility of their religion in societies which have portrayed themselves as Christian and/or secular. Therefore, the new debate is not only about the legitimacy of the role of religion(s) in the public and political sector. Instead, the visible presence of the ‘new’ religion of Islam has also caused a party-political discourse on the more fundamental issue of national cultural identities. In this discourse, both parties that have acted as representatives of a ‘Christian’ worldview and their ‘secularist’ counterparts have been prompted to (re)position themselves.This research project analyses the conflict between religion and secularism in West European party competition since the beginning of the 21st century against the background of religious pluralization. The main question is to what extent actor constellations along the religious-secular party-political cleavage have been characterized by continuity or change. In this context, the focus is on party conflicts which refer to the legitimacy of a public and political role of religion(s). Furthermore, the project examines how these conflicts also reflect (re)negotiations about national cultural identities and the role religion(s) and/or secularity are supposed to play as identity markers. The project employs both quantitative and qualitative methodology examining, first, to what extent issue attention towards these issues has changed during the period considered, and second, what positions involved (members of) parties have held over time. Moreover, the project chooses a comparative approach analyzing how party competition on ‘religion and secularism’ has differed in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, thus in four countries with divergent relevant context factors. Whereas, all of these countries have been confronted with increasing religious pluralization since 2000, the process of secularization has advanced cross-nationally to a different extent. Furthermore, the countries differ regarding the traditional role of the religious-secular cleavage as well as the significance of right-wing populist parties in their party systems.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants