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"The Three Models of Church-State Condominium"

Author(s):

  • Ramet, Sabrina P.

Series Name: Michigan Paper Series

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Publication Date: 2007

Description: Across post-communist Europe, a battle is being waged over the moral content of democracy. This is a battle over whether the religious market should be open or closed, over whether the dominant religious organization should be able to translate its moral convictions into laws binding on all citizens regardless of their religious affiliation, over the proper exercise and limits of freedom of speech, and even over the putative right of a religious body (whether the Catholic or the Orthodox Church) to harness the political apparatus in one or another state for the purpose of obtaining exceptions to EU standards. It is, in short, a battle over whether the dominant social system in post-communist Europe will be liberal democracy or clerical democracy.

Author Bio: Sabrina P. Ramet is Professor of Political Science at the Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. This is an updated version of what will be published as chapter 6 in the author’s forthcoming book, The Liberal Project and the Transformation of Democracy: The Case of Eastern Europe, due to be published in 2007 by Texas A&M University Press. Copyright © 2006 and 2007 by Sabrina P. Ramet.

Document: /UMICH/ceseuc/Home/EVENTS & PROGRAMS/Michigan Paper Series/Ramet-Liberal project.pdf

Notes/Comments: Michigan Paper Series