Mike Hoffman on How Religious Identities Influence Support for or Opposition to Democracy

Doctrine is actually often a lot looser and more subject to interpretation than we tend to assume and the way that the doctrine gets interpreted is often partially a function of group interests themselves. If you have a religious group in a given country that believes it would benefit from democracy, it's pretty likely that that group will find a way to interpret and frame its doctrine in a way that supports democracy.

- Mike Hoffman

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.

Key Highlights Include

• Role of Religion in Identity Formation • How Communal Prayer Shapes Religious Identity • Ways Group Interests Shape Perspectives on Democracy • Description of Lebanon's Political System • Why Some Groups Oppose Democracy

Mike Hoffman is a professor of political science at Notre Dame and the author of Faith in Numbers: Religion, Sectarianism, and Democracy.

Key Links

Faith in Numbers: Religion, Sectarianism, and Democracy by Michael Hoffman

Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson

Patterns of Democracy by Arend Lijphart

Related Content

Elizabeth Nugent on Polarization, Democratization and the Arab Spring

Bryn Rosenfeld on Middle Class Support for Dictators in Autocratic Regimes

More from the Podcast

More Information

Democracy Group

Apes of the State created all Music

Democracy Works

Email the show at [email protected]

Follow me on Twitter @DemParadox

100 Books on Democracy

Learn more about the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at https://kellogg.nd.edu/ Support the show

Release date

Lydbog: 20. april 2021