Elite Control of Religious Institutions: Evidence from Denmark

• In Event: Religion and Mobilization

Abstract

We study whether elite ownership of religious property had an effect on electoral power of the conservative elites. We use the case of Denmark, where church buildings were private property, usually of local landed estate owners, until a reform in 1903. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we show that after the 1903 reform, where traditional estate owners lost control of Church property, the conservative party lost electoral support in constituencies that formerly had many estate-owned churches. These findings suggest that religious legitimacy and control of religious institutions played an important role in shoring up support for the old elite in the early days of competitive elections.

Authors

• Jonathan Doucette, University of Copenhagen

• Lasse Aaskoven, University of Essex