Forschungsprojekt ::

Religious Parties in Processes of Democratic Consolidation – Revisiting the Inclusion-Moderation Thesis

Projektbeschreibung

Forschungsprojekt und Forschungsaufenthalt an der Princeton University


The salient appearance of religious parties after recent democratic transition proc-esses raises important questions: Under what conditions do religious groups eschew radical stances and unconditionally abide by the democratic rules of the game? Do the core features of liberal-democracy ─ multiparty electoral contestation, respect for basic freedoms, the rule of law ─ reinforce and mutually support one another in democratic consolidation processes, or may the inclusion of religious parties actually endanger liberal politics in the short, medium and long term?

While geographic comparison of party politics is well-established in the field of Political Science, the benefits of diachronic comparisons are still less often realized. Our project seeks to combine geographic and diachronic comparison by including case studies from the second and third wave of democratization (post-1945 and post-1974) as well as from recently democratized states.