Can Rising Rates of Church Participation Be a Consequence of Secularization

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2591407
AutoresRick Phillips (0009-0009-8672-5080, University of North Florida, autor de correspondencia)
Año2004
Volumen65
Número2
Páginas139
Fecha de publicación2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociology of Religion (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1069-4404 • E-ISSN: 1759-8818
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3712403
OpenAlexW2072156417
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas26

An influential theory in the sociology of religion holds that the separation of church and state forces religious organizations to compete with one another for adherents. This competitive climate heightens levels of church participation. This paper examines two cases where rates of individual religious activity increased following the differentiaon of political and ecclesiastical stuctures as the competition theory predicts. However, the facts surrounding these increases are riot wholly consistent with the theory's propositions. Rather, I show that a heretofore neglected variant of secularization theory suggests a mechanism that better links the process of social differentiation to changes in individual religious participation

Political science · Secularization · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Religious studies