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State and religion over time

Author

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  • Coşgel, Metin
  • Histen, Matthew
  • Miceli, Thomas J.
  • Yıldırım, Sadullah

Abstract

State and religion, two of the oldest institutions known to mankind, have historically had a close relationship with each other, but the disestablishment of state religions has been one of the most drastic institutional transformations that has taken place in the modern era. We offer a systematic analysis of the development of secular states based on a political economy approach that is centered on the notion of legitimacy. Viewing religion as a legitimizing force for political leaders, we consider the factors affecting the cost and benefits of alternative sources of legitimacy, such as the differential abilities of religious and secular sources to legitimize political rulers and historical inertia that shaped the cost of monitoring legitimizing agents. To examine this argument empirically, we built a cross-national time-series dataset for the relationship between state and religion since the year 1000. We first use the data to examine the evolution of secularism over time and its variation across religious traditions. We then use regression analysis and an instrumental variables approach to identify the influences on the adoption of secular state, such as concentration in the religion market, religious differences between rulers and the general population, historical inertia of a state, and the prevailing political regime. We address endogeneity concerns regarding the relationship between religious concentration and state secularism by exploiting variation among territories in their geographic distance to religious “capitals” of the world as an instrument.

Suggested Citation

  • Coşgel, Metin & Histen, Matthew & Miceli, Thomas J. & Yıldırım, Sadullah, 2018. "State and religion over time," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 20-34.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:46:y:2018:i:1:p:20-34
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2016.11.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Metin M. Coşgel & Thomas J. Miceli & Sadullah Yıldırım, 2023. "Religion, rulers, and conflict," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 439-480, September.
    2. Metin Coşgel, 2022. "The state, religion, and freedom: a review essay of Persecution & toleration," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 257-266, June.
    3. Stergios Skaperdas & Samarth Vaidya, 2020. "Why did pre-modern states adopt Big-God religions?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 182(3), pages 373-394, March.
    4. Moamen Gouda & Jerg Gutmann, 2021. "Islamic constitutions and religious minorities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 186(3), pages 243-265, March.
    5. Coşgel, Metin M. & Langlois, Richard N. & Miceli, Thomas J., 2020. "Identity, religion, and the state: The origin of theocracy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 608-622.
    6. Coşgel, Metin M. & Hwang, Jungbin & Miceli, Thomas J. & Yıldırım, Sadullah, 2019. "Religiosity: Identifying the effect of pluralism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 219-235.
    7. Antonis Adam & Sofia Tsarsitalidou, 2023. "Serving two masters: the effect of state religion on fiscal capacity," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 194(1), pages 181-203, January.
    8. Li, Tianshi & Yang, Tina & Zhu, Jigao, 2022. "Directors’ and officers’ liability insurance: Evidence from independent directors’ voting," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    9. Masera, Federico, 2021. "State, religiosity and church participation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 269-287.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    State; Religion; Secular; Legitimacy; Institutions; Religious concentration; Political economy; Regime; Historical inertia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General
    • P5 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems
    • N4 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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