Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T05:38:19.317Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mobilizing Religion for Democracy: Explaining Catholic Church Support for Democratization in South America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2010

Luis Felipe Mantilla
Luis Felipe Mantilla*
Affiliation:
Georgetown University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Luis Felipe Mantilla, Department of Government, Georgetown University, Box 571034, Intercultural Center 681, Washington, DC 20057-1034. E-mail: lfm5@georgetown.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explores the conditions under which religious organizations push for democratization by addressing variation in support for democracy among Catholic Church authorities in South America. It argues that this can be best explained by leveraging key concepts used in the study of social movements: cultural frames, mobilizing resources, and political opportunity structures. This approach yields counter-intuitive insights about the role played by the Second Vatican Council, the size of national churches, and the crucial role of political parties. The empirical argument is formulated in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions, and tested using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , December 2010 , pp. 553 - 579
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Albrecht, C. 2006. “Lucho Espinal, por una Iglesia comprometida (Lucho Espinal, for a Dedicated Church).” http://www.seleccionesdeteologia.net/selecciones/llib/vol45/177/177_albrecht.pdf (Accessed July 5, 2009).Google Scholar
Blancarte, R.J. 2009. “The Changing Face of Religion in the Democratization of Mexico: The Case of Catholicism.” In Religious Pluralism, Democracy, and the Catholic Church in Latin America, ed. Hagopian, F.Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Boron, A.A. 2000. “Ruling without a Party: Argentine Dominant Classes in the Twentieth Century.” In Conservative Parties, the Right, and Democracy in Latin America, ed. Middlebrook, K.J.Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Buquet, D., and De Armas, G.. 2004. “La evolución electoral de la izquierda: crecimiento demográfico y moderación ideológica (The Electoral Evolution of the Left: Demographic Growth and Ideological Modernization).” In La izquierda uruguaya entre la oposicion y el gobierno (The Uruguayan Left between Opposition and Government), ed. Lanzaro, J.Montevideo. Uruguay: Fin de Siglo.Google Scholar
Carter, M. 1990. “The Role of the Paraguayan Catholic Church in the Downfall of the Stroessner Regime.” Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 32:67–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casanova, J. 1994. Public Religions in the Modern World. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación. 2004. Informe final (Perú: 1980–2000): El proceso, los hechos, las víctimas — Exposición General (Final Report (Peru 1980–2000): The Process, the Facts, the Victims – General Presentation). Lima, Peru: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.Google Scholar
Dávila, F.R. 1981. “Los partidos políticos tradicionales y el descenso de la oligarquía en el Ecuador (The Traditional Political Parties and the Decline of the Oligarchy in Ecuador).” Revista Mexicana de Sociología 43:1141–1168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunkerley, J. 1988. Power in the Isthmus: A Political History of Modern Central America. London, UK: Verso Books.Google Scholar
Gill, A. 1998. Rendering unto Caesar: The Catholic Church and the State in Latin America. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gillespie, C.G. 1991. Negotiating Democracy: Politicians and Generals in Uruguay. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez, L.E. 1995. “Continuity and Change in the Uruguayan Party System.” In Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America, eds. Mainwaring, S., and Scully, T.R.. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Gutierrez, G. 1973. A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.Google Scholar
Hagopian, F. 2008. “Latin American Catholicism in an Age of Religious and Political Pluralism: A Framework for Analysis.” Comparative Politics 40:149–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntington, S. 1991. The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.Google Scholar
Inglehart, R. 2009. “Cultural Change, Religion, Subjective Well-Being, and Democracy in Latin America.” In Religious Pluralism, Democracy, and the Catholic Church in Latin America, ed. Hagopian, F.Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
International Parliamentary Union. 2009. “PARLINE Database on National Parliaments.” http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/parlinesearch.asp (Accessed July 20, 2009).Google Scholar
Isaacs, A. 1993. Military Rule and Transition in Ecuador, 1972–92. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnston, H., and Figa, J.. 1988. “The Church and Political Opposition: Comparative Perspectives on Mobilization against Authoritarian Regimes.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 27:32–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kearney, C.A. 2006. “The Brazilian Church: Reintegrating Ontology and Epistemology.” In The Catholic Church and the Nation-State: Comparative Perspectives, eds. Manuel, P.C., Reardon, L.C. and Wilcox, C.. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Keck, M.E. 1995. The Workers’ Party and Democratization in Brazil. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Kitschelt, H.P. 1986. “Political Opportunity Structures and Political Protest: Anti-Nuclear Movements in Four Democracies.” British Journal of Political Science 16:57–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klaiber, J.S.J. 1996. La Iglesia en el Peru: historia social desde la independencia (The Church in Peru: Social History Since Independence). Lima, Peru: Fondo Editorial de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klaiber, J.S.J. 1998. The Church, Dictatorships, and Democracy in Latin America. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.Google Scholar
Levine, D.H. 1978. “Authority in Church and Society: Latin American Models.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 20:517–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levine, D.H. 1988. “Assessing the Impacts of Liberation Theology in Latin America.” The Review of Politics 50:241–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levine, D.H. 1988. “Paradigm Lost: From Dependency to Democracy.” World Politics 40:377–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levine, D.H., ed. 1980. Churches and Politics in Latin America. Beverly Hills, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Lies, W. C.S.C., and Malone, M.F.T.. 2006. “The Chilean Church: Declining Hegemony?” In The Catholic Church and the Nation-State: Comparative Perspectives, eds. Manuel, P.C., Reardon, L.C. and Wilcox, C.. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Loaeza, S. 2003. “The National Action Party (PAN): From the Fringes of the Political System to the Heart of Change.” In Christian Democracy in Latin America: Electoral Competition and Regime Conflicts, eds. Mainwaring, S., and Scully, T.R.. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Lowenthal, A.F., ed. 1975. The Peruvian Experiment: Continuity and Change under Military Rule. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Mainwaring, S., and Wilde, A.. 1989. “The Progressive Church in Latin America: And Interpretation.” In The Progressive Church in Latin America, eds. Mainwaring, S. & Wilde, A.. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Mainwaring, S. 1986. The Catholic Church and Politics in Brazil, 1916–1895. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Malloy, J.M. 1974. “Authoritarianism, Corporatism and Mobilization in Peru.” The Review of Politics 36:52–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAdam, D., McCarthy, J.D. and Zald, M.N.. 1996. Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements: Political Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures and Cultural Framings. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAdam, D., Tarrow, S.G. and Tilly, C.. 2001. Dynamics of Contention. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Middlebrook, K.J. 2000. “Introduction: Conservative Parties, Elite Representation, and Democracy in Latin America.” In Conservative Parties, the Right, and Democracy in Latin America, ed. Middlebrook, K.J.Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Donnell, G., and Schmitter, P.C.. 1986. Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain Democracies. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
O’Donnell, G. 1979. Modernization and Bureaucratic-Authoritarianism. Berkley, CA: Institute of International Studies.Google Scholar
Pasara, L. 1989. Peru: “The Leftist Angels.” In The Progressive Church in Latin America, eds. Mainwaring, S. and Wilde, A.. Notre Dame, IL, University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Philpott, D. 2004. “The Catholic Wave.” Journal of Democracy 15:32–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Philpott, D. 2007. “Explaining the Political Ambivalence of Religion.” American Political Science Review 101:505–525.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Przeworski, A. 1991. Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ragin, C. 2000. Fuzzy-Set Social Science. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Ragin, C. 2004. From Fuzzy Sets to Crisp Truth Tables. http://www.compasss.org/RaginFSForthcoming.PDF (Accessed July 12, 2007).Google Scholar
Ragin, C. 2006. “Set Relations in Social Research: Evaluating Their Consistency and Coverage.” Political Analysis, 14:291–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rueschemeyer, D., Stephens, E.H. and Stephens, J.D.. 1992. Capitalist Development and Democracy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Schmidt, G.D. 2003. “The Great Minority: Christian Democracy in Peru.” In Christian Democracy in Latin America: Electoral Competition and Regime Conflicts, eds. Mainwaring, S., and Scully, T.R.. Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Scully, T.R. 1995. “Reconstructing Party Politics in Chile.” In Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America, eds. Mainwaring, S., and Scully, T.R.. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Sigmund, P.E. 1992. Liberation Theology at the Crossroads: Democracy or Revolution? Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B.H. 1975. “Religion and Social Change: Classical Theories and New Formulations in the Context of Recent Developments in Latin America.” Latin American Research Review 10:3–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B.H. 1979. “Churches and Human Rights in Latin America: Recent Trends in the Subcontinent.” Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 21:89–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B.H. 1982. The Church and Politics in Chile: Challenges to Modern Catholicism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B.H. 1986. “Chile: Deepening the Allegiance of Working-Class Sectors to the Church in the 1970s.” In Religion and Political Conflict in Latin America, ed. Levine, D.H.Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Stepan, A.C. 1978. The State and Society: Peru in a Comparative Perspective. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Tarrow, S. 1994. Power in Movement. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Vatican Editoral Library. 2000. Annuario Statistico della Chiesa. 1970–2000 (Statistical Year Book of the Church 1970–2000). Vatican City, Italy: Librería Editrice Vaticanna.Google Scholar
Wald, K.D., Silverman, A.L. and Fridy, K.S. 2005. “Making Sense of Religion in Political Life.” Annual Review of Political Science 8:121–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilcox, C., Wald, K.D. and Jelen, T.G.. 2008. “Religious Preferences and Social Science: A Second Look.” Journal of Politics 70:874–879.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolpin, M.D. 1981. “Military Radicalism in Latin America.” Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 23:395–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar