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Political Rupture and the Origins of Secularization: Evidence from the French Revolution

Author

Listed:
  • Rabah Arezki
  • Van Le Dao

Abstract

Can a political rupture permanently alter a society's religious trajectory? We exploit variation in the intensity of French Revolutionary conflict across departments between 1787 and 1793 linking it to Catholic attachment over the following century — including La Croix readership and church attendance in 1940–1950 that is before postwar migration reshuffled France's population. More exposed departments became durably less religious: a one-standard-deviation increase in unrest lowers Catholic newspaper readership by 0.3–0.4 points on a four-point scale. A global panel of revolutions since 1900 corroborates this: violent revolutions predict secularization, not a backlash-driven religious revival.

Suggested Citation

  • Rabah Arezki & Van Le Dao, 2026. "Political Rupture and the Origins of Secularization: Evidence from the French Revolution," CESifo Working Paper Series 12967, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12967
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • P00 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - General - - - General

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