Analyzing the Effect of Catholic Parties on Abortion and Same-Sex Marriage Laws

• In Event: Religious-Based Mobilization

Abstract

Does the politicization of religion impede or encourage the implementation of secularist policy agendas? Countries with higher levels of religious political engagement might be expected to more effectively resist the adoption of secularist policies. However, a growing body of scholarship raises doubts about the effectiveness of religious political mobilization as a means of securing religious policy goals. The politicization of religion appears to be a double-edged sword, leading to counter-mobilization by secular groups and eroding the influence of religious leaders. This paper presents a multi-method assessment of the effects of Catholic partisan engagement on the achievement of defensive Catholic policy goals, specifically resisting the legalization of abortion and same sex unions. Catholic-majority countries vary substantially in the degree to which Catholicism is actively mobilized by political parties in elections. They also vary in the degree to which they have liberalized abortion policies and extended recognition to same-sex couples. This paper examines how the presence and electoral performance of parties associated with Catholicism affects the adoption of laws that enhance abortion rights and same-sex partnerships. Relying on a sample of 34 Catholic-majority countries, it estimates the impact of parties that mobilize religion on the incidence and timing of these reforms, taking into account levels of religious commitment and pluralism as well as the presence of other state religion policies. It finds that there is a consistently negative correlation between religious politicization and the achievement of defensive goals that is robust to various specification including use of lagged independent variables. The paper then relies on a case study of Mexico to examine the causal pathways linking religious mobilization by political parties and the liberalization of laws governing abortion and same-sex unions.

Author

• Luis Felipe Mantilla, University of South Florida St Petersburg