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How religion influences government
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All but four countries in the world claim to be democracies. While this statistic is demonstrative of democracy’s widespread appeal, it fails to articulate the extreme differences in the level of democracy that is experienced in these countries. Many states are merely democratic in name. Others began the democratization process but have failed to progress toward a true democracy. Scholars identify religion as a source of promotion or hindrance to democratic development. They argue that some religions are predisposed to liberal forms of democracy while others are a few steps shy of theocracy. Certain religious-based societies are not willing to incorporate all the elements of democracy, thus hindering democratic development. According to the Dahl and Linz-Stepan criteria listed in chapter eleven of Arguing Comparative Politics, the tenants of democracy are: “(1) freedom to form and join organizations; (2) freedom of expression; (3) the right to vote; (4) eligibility for public office; (5) the right of political leaders to compete for support and votes; (6) alternative sources of information; (7) free and fair elections; (8) institutions for making government policies depend on votes and other expressions of preference;” (9) the presence of a written democracy that respects fundamentals of liberty; and (10) a government that operates within the constraints of the constitution. These parameters help evaluate the impact of specific religions on their government, and will identify which groups obtain true democracy. Christianity, Islam, and Confucianism will be compared to determine their impact on democratic development within a state. When determining whether religion shapes the nature of democratic development, we must fi...
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...te’s job to ensure all minority groups (civil associations) are accessible to the public. Unfortunately, not all pseudo-democratic nations subscribe to this belief. Nations such as Pakistan have a history of oppressing religions other than Islam. In comparing Christianity, Confucianism, and Islam it becomes apparent that democracy is adaptable to each religion. Different approaches have been taken in different countries. Some nations prevent democratic development while others embrace it. Proponents of modernization theory are correct in their basic assumption that economic development will eventually create some level of political liberalization. Specific components of each religion seem to frown upon democracy; however, it is up to the interpreters of each religion to determine whether they will hinder or promote democratic development in their society.
and religion are actually interdependent as oppose to being dichotomous. In looking into the past with the use of genealogy, Asad comes to resemble Max Weber’s very own focus on the internal development of ideas that trigger social change. With the use of the genealogical method, Asad discovers that terms such as myth and sacred are not only terms that find themselves intertwined in our understanding of the developments of religion but also terms that constitute the “secular” and come to shape the
influence citizenship education that should be examine and persons should be knowledgeable about these issues and trends. Reference Barr, Dennis J. (2010). Continuing a Tradition of Research on the Foundations of Democratic Education: The National Prefessional Development and Evaluation Project. Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation. Galston, W. A. (2003). Civic education and political participation. Phi Delta Kappan Kahne, J., & Westheimer, J. (2003). Teaching Democracy: What
The main idea of democratic deliberation is that decision making is collaborative and embraces friendly debate and participation by the public. While decision must be made by laws or agreements, they “need not (and often should not) be permanently binding, particularly when subsequent developments warrant additional examination” (Gutmann). While the ethicality of synthetic biology is an ongoing issue, with
historical comparative approach, she tries to explain how “both religious practice and religious conflict are key in the formation of the welfare state”. She emphasizes the relationship between “religion as a political force, gender and familial ideologies, the constellation of political parties and the nature of partisan competition, women's movements, policy legacies, and social structural changes” . As stressed out in the first pages: “this book examines and explain patterns of work-family policies
Serhan Tanriverdi Reflection Paper Academic Study of Religion Prof. Abdulaziz Sachedina The Challenges of Academic Study of Religion The academic study of religion is very challenging task because religion is a complex phenomenon. Thus, the study of religion varies based on different disciplines and approaches. Some studies are broad and comprehensive while some are narrow and exclusionary. There is a wide-range of study methodology in various ways. So, each study method can be viewed as a way of
Power in Animal Farm and Anthem Character in novels come in many shapes and sizes. A character can either be round or flat, and they can also be static or dynamic. Authors use the characters actions, conflicts, and dialogue to portray different themes that they are trying to get across. A common theme portrayed through the use characters is power. Power in novels can be shown in many ways. George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Ayn Rand’s Anthem are two excellent representations of what power can be and
social systems are connected interdependently, so as ones social factors change it then relates to the next changes to come. For the agricultural revolution some social factors that are related to it are things like community factors. Now with the development of cities in this age more people are living close together. Those people can then share ideas with one another, which then creates even more new social factors. Another one would be the domestication of animals,
According to a study, “Atheism is a lack of belief in gods. Secularism simply provides a framework for a democratic society. Atheists have an obvious interest in supporting secularism, but secularism itself does not seek to challenge the tenets of any particular religion or belief, neither does it seek to impose atheism on anyone” (National Secular Society). The two are very different terms which should be discussed before it gets confusing. Secularism
the development of pasteurized milk and emergence of pediatrics as a separate
The term has not indeed come out into common use in politics until the late 1920s. According to Jerome Karabel, exceptionalism became prevalent, particularly in American politics, during the Regan administration and its Cold War against Soviet communism. Joseph Stalin employed the term in order to accuse the Lovestoneite faction of the American Communist Party of a heretical deviation from party orthodoxies. As a matter of fact, the main reason for Stalin in applying the term as a “heresy” is to
tradition for politics is premised in that culture “can illuminate micro-and macro-level political dynamics and provide explanatory mechanisms not revealed by either rationality or institutionalism” (Ross 135). Ross does not focus on a specific component of culture, for instance, religion. Instead he
In its most basic form, sociology is “the study of how society is organised”, investigating “the origin, development, organisation and functioning of human society.” Socio-legal studies, on the other hand, analyse the law from a range of perspectives, giving rise to a range of social-legal methods of research “by bringing to bear the insights of other disciplines, including economics and other social sciences, history, literary theory, philosophy, and more.” This has led some to comment that socio-legal
“Where does power lie in EITHER the UK OR the US? Where should it lie? Answer with reference to Steven Lukes’s theory of power as described in Power: A Radical View. “ Introduction Scruton defines power as ‘the ability to achieve whatever effect is desired, whether or not in the face of opposition (Scruton, 1982, p.366).’ Whereas Robertson defines power as ‘the ability of A to get B to do something they would not choose to do (Robertson, 1993, p.393).’ Marxists might define power as the ownership
between Islam and Iran The nexus between Islam and Iran is a complex one. Islam was brought to Iran via Arab-Islamic conquest in 650 AD and has played a shifting, anomalous role in this nation-state ever since. The ideas of nationalism, secularism, religion, and revolution are unique in this Muslim country. Iranians, unlike many of their neighbors, hold on very strongly to their pre-Islamic roots and achievements; sentiments of nationalism are apparent throughout Iranian history and in the everyday
(The Giver is a social science fiction by Lowry) Freedom of expression has been enshrined as one of the fundamental rights in constitutions of most of the democratic states of the world. This right is hallmark of an egalitarian democratic state. There cannot be an easy access to this right under a dictatorial regime or monarchy. But under democratic structure, it becomes an imperative feature and censorship or gagging of liberal ideas becomes questionable. Censorship consists of any attempt to suppress