3.2 Pavolini, Béland & Jawad (2017) Religion and social policy + Lecture Notes

Social Policy

Religion asserts itself through ___ to meet human needs in security, education, work, health & well-being

High religiosity

High insecurity =

Welfare State

• Government covers social and economic security (income, pensions, medical)

• Not just taxes and wars

• Basically why religious attendance declined… bc why else would u attend if the gov already provides everything for you

Is the PH Welfare State?

No, we don’t have fiscal capacity so we just target social assistance

Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework - Triple PS

1. Problem Stream - On the ground

2. Policy Stream - Think tanks & economists

3. Politics Stream - Main government

• Intersection of these 3 streams created Policy Window

• Allows for agenda-setting and policy adaptation

• Religion can technically be anywhere in this process

Three Levels of Religion-Social Policy Nexus

1. Political Party Level (Macro)

2. FBO Level (Meso)

3. Individual Level (Micro)

Political parties as Macro Religion-Social Policy

• Examine political parties with explicit religious inspirations and their role in fostering welfare reforms

• How religious parties rose to prominence and influenced ideological positions on social protection

FBOs as Meso Religion-Social Policy

Role of religious affiliated groups in delivering welfare services like health, education, and family support

Service provision serves as source of power and social legitimation

Indivduals as Micro Religion-Social Policy

How individuals faith, values, and church attendances shapes views on public policy

Indirect - Voting behavior

Direct - Fundamentally different welfare preferences than secular

Casanova’s State Separation Patterns

• Formal establishment with Free exercise (e.g., England, Nordic countries)

• Formal disestablishment with Strict regulation (e.g., France)

• Informal establishments (Germany and Southern Europe)

• Strict disestablishment with High pluralism (e.g., USA)

Formal establishment with Free exercise

(e.g., England, Nordic countries)

Formal disestablishment with Strict regulation

(e.g., France)

Informal establishments

(Germany and Southern Europe)

Strict disestablishment with High pluralism

(e.g., USA)

(Rokkan) 1st Wave of Religion in Welfare State

Religion associated with secularization and modernization. Shaped welfare expansion through principles like subsidiarity and moral obligations to the poor

(Rokkan) 2nd Wave of Religion in Welfare State

Conflict between Church and State control education and the protection of workers.

Protective layer

Religious organizations have often been “crowded-in” rather than replaced by the welfare state to act as a ____ between the State (public sphere) and the family (private sphere)

Typology of FBOs (PCAB)

Faith-permated: Everything

Faith-centered: Evident in services

Faith-affiliated: Only leadership

Faith-background: History lang

Church attendance, welfare attitudes

____ is often a more powerful predictor of ____ than specific religious denominations.

Rational Choice Perspective

Individuals who feel “insured” by their religious community may prefer lower levels of state social insurance

Conservative Preferences

Frequent churchgoers refrain from voting for redistributive parties and instead, turning to parties that pledge to conserve and protect religious values

Welfare Chauvinism

Populist right-wing parties increasingly use cultural and religious identity to advocate for restricting welfare access to national “insiders” while excluding immigrants