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Spiritual Values, Religious Practices, and Democratic Attitudes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2008

Myunghee Kim
Myunghee Kim*
Affiliation:
University of Central Florida
*
Address correspondence and reprint request to: Myunghee Kim, Department of Political Science, University of Central Florida, P. O. Box 161356, Orlando, Florida 32816-1356. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Using data from the 1999–2001 World Values and European Values Surveys, this article examines the impact of spiritual values and religious practices on democratic attitudes in twenty countries throughout Western Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Africa. I assume that a reciprocal interaction between national conditions and individual orientations shapes support for democracy. Religious commitment as theological orthodoxy and attendance at religious services does not strengthen democratic views. Instead, explicitly political and cultural variables explain approval for democratic principles, particularly among industrialized countries. Individuals who express a low fear of threatening groups also back democratic institutions, regardless of a nation's industrialization. Among religious affiliations, Protestants in developing countries advocate democratic values. So do Muslims in industrialized countries. Nonmembers of religious institutions, however, are less likely to uphold democratic attitudes.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , August 2008 , pp. 216 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2008

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