There is a growing recognition of the challenge that religions pose for pluralist, multicultural democracies. ‘Fundamentalist’ beliefs and practices test the limits of religious freedom, and seem to contradict the very basis on which liberal states protect religious liberty. Religions, moreover, are often associated with intolerance and persecution, yet insist upon religious liberty for themselves. This book inverts these stereotypes by presenting a sustained critique of how religious liberty ought to be understood in liberal legal systems and develops an alternative, Christian response. The prevailing liberal approach to religious freedom is compared with historic and contemporary understandings developed by Christian theorists, and an alternative principled basis for religious liberty, from a distinctively Christian position, is developed. The variety of stances the liberal state may take towards organised religions are analysed, and the nature of the guarantees for religious freedom in domestic and international law is explained. The difficult question of precisely when and how far religious liberty should be limited is also considered. This book also deals with concrete contemporary controversies involving the recognition and protection of religious beliefs and conduct, looking at issues such as family and parenting, medical treatment, education, employment, religious group autonomy, and freedom of expression and protest. Extensive reference is made throughout the analysis to UK law and the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as the laws of other jurisdictions such as the US, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
What explains the ebb and flow of religion? Some U.S. sociologists have argued that the demand for religion is relatively constant throughout history and across cultures and thus the fluctuations in religion are better accounted for by the supply-side factors such as the number and vigour of religious suppliers. Religious economies operate like commercial economies. Competition is said to be as beneficial for religion as it is for mundane products and results in greater religious vitality and overall levels of participation. This thesis is contrary to traditional secularisation theory, which maintained that religious pluralism undermined the plausibility and survival of all faiths. The religious market model and its supporting rational choice theory are examined in this essay. The bold claims of the model are not borne out by the empirical evidence. While the religious market model generates useful insights and data, its limits need to be observed.
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This monograph presents a detailed, lively, and original chronicle and analysis of New Zealand’s competition law. The modern era began with the Commerce Act 1986 and since then a steady corpus of case law has traversed all the major areas of antitrust law: cartels, resale price maintenance, exclusive dealing, tying, monopolization, predatory pricing, mergers, private and public enforcement, and so on. The volume explains the rationale for the major reforms of the Commerce Act and traces the development of key concepts such as effective competition, efficiency, market power, market definition, entry barriers, wealth transfers, and public benefit over the last 34 years. The book provides an extended critique of the landmark cases and legislative amendments. It assesses the desirable, and undesirable, aspects of competition law’s interpretation and doctrinal development by the courts and Commerce Commission. Systemic issues are explored such as: how well has New Zealand moulded its own competition law, whilst, nonetheless, selectively drawing upon the policy prescriptions, case law, and wisdom from foreign jurisdictions? How well has it adapted its competition law to the reality of it being a small, distant, isolated, deregulated, open economy? How has the transplanted Harvard School versus Chicago School debate played out in New Zealand? How have unique, if not rash, experiments such as its “light-handed” regulation for utilities worked? It concludes by drawing together the common threads that mark the modern era and offering some predictions about how the next decades of New Zealand competition law might unfold.
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