Veit Bader
Secularism or Democracy?
Associational Governance of Religious Diversity
Established institutions and policies of dealing with religious diversity in liberal democratic states are increasingly under pressure. Practical politics and political theory is caught in a trap between a fully secularized state (strict separation of state and politics from completely privatized religions based on an idealized version of American denominationalism or French republicanism) and neo-corporatist or ‘pillarized’ regimes of selective cooperation between states and organized religions. The book offers an original, comprehensive conceptual, theoretical and practical approach to problems of governance of religious diversity from a multi-disciplinary perspective combining moral and political philosophy, constitutional law, history, sociology and anthropology of religions and comparative institutionalism. Proposals of associative democracy – a moderately libertarian, flexible version of democratic institutional pluralism – are introduced and scrutinized whether they can serve as as plausible third way overcoming the inherent deficiencies of the predominant models in theory and practice.
Veit Bader is Professor of Sociology and Professor of Social and Political Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam.
Reviews
A comprehensive analysis of some of the most debated issues concerning the role played by religion in contemporary society. Contextualised in a broad sociological and historical perspective, this book provides lawyers with a very helplful insight into the way new relations between law and religion are taking shape.
Silvio Ferrari
Professor of Law, University of Milan
This is a terrific book. I know of no other contemporary work on religion and politics that combines such sophisticated philosophical analysis with such deep sociological knowledge. It is a major contribution.
Joseph H. Carens
University of Toronto
Professor Veit Bader's book, SECULARISM OR DEMOCRACY? is a much needed book today. As many democracies face the renewed challenge of maintaining religious freedom in light of increasing numbers of religious minorities, it offers a way to protect the freedom of religious minorities, not by ignoring them or stifling their freedom, but by recognizing and accepting them in a truly pluralistic fashion.
Stephen Monsma,
Research Fellow
The Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics
Calvin College
Grand Rapids, MI
USA
In this important book, Veit Bader offers an anti-perfectionist defense of religious diversity and its associational governance. His bold and courageous approach to these issues is based on a concept of minimal morality that is coupled with a commitment to maximum institutional pluralism. Secularism or Democracy puts at center-stage the urgent need to revisit the relationship between religion and politics if we are to live together peacefully and respectfully in our diverse societies.
Ayelet Shachar
Leah Kaplan Visiting Professor in Human Rights
Stanford Law School
Stanford University
Stanford Law School, Stanford University
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