James Madison's Principle of Religious Liberty

Muñoz, Vincent Phillip

doi:10.1017/s0003055403000492

Cited by 20 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…For one exception, see Ward (1992, 5-17), who considers the British case, showing that while in such instances a lack of religion-state separation appear relatively benign and moderate, even this "good" religion-state linkage provokes concerns about its impact on citizen equality. This despite the emphasis of early United States democratic theorist James Madison on the importance of religion-state separation for democratic governance (Muñoz 2003;Dahl 2006, 4-36, 152-171). For an evaluation of Grim and Finke's social regulation measure, see Grim and Wike 2010. 4.…”

Section: Conclusion and Future Research Avenuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconceptualizing Church and State: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Separation of Religion and State on Democracy

Brathwaite

Bramsen

2011

Politics and Religion

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This article argues that the relationship between democracy and the separation of religion and state needs to be reexamined. We argue that previous studies have misconceptualized the impact that a lack of church-state separation can have on democracy, or have taken a narrow focus by concentrating on specific cases. We use principal component analysis and a large-n data set covering 125 countries to show that the separation of religion and state should be conceptualized multi-dimensionally and that it should be considered a component of democracy. Our findings show that as separation of religion and state increases, the level of democracy also increases.

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Section: Conclusion and Future Research Avenuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconceptualizing Church and State: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Separation of Religion and State on Democracy

Brathwaite

Bramsen

2011

Politics and Religion

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“…James Madison opposed a practice, started by George Washington and continued by John Adams, of making religious presidential proclamations. However, the War of 1812 caused Madison to issue four proclamations calling for national days of prayer (Munoz, 2003). (Such turn-around is understandable when the British burn your home!)…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Barack Obama and the Public Administration of Faith

Slack

2009

International Journal of Public Administration

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For American presidents, spiritual faith and religion have been an important vehicle for expressing national vision for the future as well as understanding the collective past. As President Barack Obama advances into his term in office, the question posed is this: to what degree will spiritual faith play in his leadership and resulting public policies? This question is addressed by examining the President's inaugural address and by taking a preliminary look at the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Indications are that religion and faith will maintain a customary role, but President Obama will most likely find ways to remind the American people of the diversity of beliefs in the American political community. He will welcome such diversity into the mainstream of political and policy life.

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“…A contrasting approach contends that Madison's principle of religious liberty was not strict separation or religious accommodation but rather “noncognizance,” which means that government lacks any power to cognize or see religion whether in matters of religious establishment or free exercise. This view has been articulated by Pangle and Pangle (1993) and Hamburger (2002) and developed powerfully by Muñoz (2003a, 2003b, 2005, 2009). According to Muñoz, Madison embraced strict separation only because it “is derivative from Madison's principle of noncognizance” (2009, 39, n. 79).…”

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confidence: 90%

“…1 1 There is a voluminous scholarly literature on Madison's views of religious liberty and church‐state relations in America. For a few of the more recent studies, see Muñoz (2009), Fisher (2003), Muñoz (2003a, 2003b), Sheldon (2003), Hamburger (2002), Banning (1995), Pangle and Pangle (1993), and McConnell (1990). For a study of the treatment and use of Madison's view of religious liberty by Supreme Court justices, see Muñoz (2005). …”

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confidence: 99%

Government Has No “Religious Agency”: James Madison's Fundamental Principle of Religious Liberty

Sikkenga¹

2012

American J Political Sci

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Religious liberty has reemerged as a problem in liberal democracy. For guidance we can turn to James Madison. Unfortunately, his fundamental principle of religious liberty has been misunderstood. Madison believed that power over religious conscience always remains with the individual, which means that government never has a power to attempt to cause or prohibit religious opinions or profession and only has the power to prohibit religious practices that are "adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." Madison's fundamental principle of religious liberty is therefore that government has no "religious agency." In matters of religious establishment, "no agency" means that government lacks even the power to cognize religious opinions or practices. But in matters of free exercise, "no agency" means that government can accommodate citizens' religious consciences, even if that accommodation requires cognizing their religious opinions. An important but widely overlooked example of Madison's complex but principled approach to religious liberty is his 1790 proposal for a statutory exemption from federal militia service for religious objectors.

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James Madison's Principle of Religious Liberty

Cited by 20 publications

References 18 publications

Reconceptualizing Church and State: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Separation of Religion and State on Democracy

Reconceptualizing Church and State: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Separation of Religion and State on Democracy

Barack Obama and the Public Administration of Faith

Government Has No “Religious Agency”: James Madison's Fundamental Principle of Religious Liberty

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