The Origins of Secular Institutions: Ideas, Timing, and Organization

An original theory and meticulous analysis of how advocates of political secularization emerged historically and why they succeeded in some contexts but not others. Why do some countries adopt secular institutions while others do not? In The Origins of Secular Institutions, Zeynep Bulutgil develops a theory that combines ideational and organizational mechanisms to explain how institutional secularization occurs. She first focuses on why political groups with a secularizing agenda emerge. Her argument is that the circulation of Enlightenment literature among the elite and associations through which the elite could exchange ideas were the main factors that influenced the early emergence of secularizing political movements. She then turns to the conditions under which these movements succeed. Secularizing political groups are at a comparative disadvantage when it comes to recruiting grassroots support because, unlike religious actors, they cannot rely on a pre-existing institutional structure. They become likely to overcome this obstacle if they have time to build a robust organization before religious political movements emerge. Bulutgil supports these arguments by combining statistical analysis of original historical data with comparative analysis of countries in Europe (France, Spain, The United Kingdom) and the Middle East/North Africa (Turkey, Morocco, and Tunisia). An authoritative explanation of why political secularization occurred in some countries but not others, this book will reshape our understanding of an issue of unsurpassed importance for over two centuries: the effects of modernity on politics.

Table of Contents:
List of Tables List of Figures Introduction Chapter 1: Theory Chapter 2: Cross-National Analysis Chapter 3: Comparative Historical Analysis I: France and Spain Chapter 4: Comparative Historical Analysis II: Turkey and Morocco Chapter 5: Analysing the Conceptual Border: United Kingdom and Tunisia Conclusion Appendices Appendix 2.1: List of Secular Countries 1800-2000 Appendix 2.2: Sources used to code Institutional Secularization Appendix 2.3: Additional Robustness Checks Bibliography

About the Author :
H. Zeynep Bulutgil is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at University College London. She is also the author of The Roots of Ethnic Cleansing in Europe (2016).

Review :
Why do secularizing groups emerge? And when do these advocates of secular institutions and religious tolerance succeed? In this innovative and compelling analysis, Zeynep Bulutgil points to print technology, the diffusion of secularist ideas, and their grafting onto political party organizations as critical to the emergence of secularized institutions. This is a must read for scholars of religion and politics, state formation, and political parties." -Anna Grzymala-Busse, Michelle and Kevin Douglas Professor of International Studies, Stanford University Bulutgil effectively explains the ideational and organizational mechanisms of success or failure of political secularization processes. Her combination of quantitative and comparative historical methods is impressive. Analyzing France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Morocco, and Tunisia, she successfully elaborates the conditions under which secularist movements achieve to secularize state institutions. A major contribution to multiple fields, particularly religion and politics." -Ahmet T. Kuru, Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University A tour de force of historical sociology and a major contribution to theories of state building. Drawing on new data and a breath-taking array of historical sources on civil society, church infrastructures, and timing and sequencing of reform, Bulutgil provides a new perspective on the origin of secular orders and challenges that secularisers face. Dazzling in its breadth, the author takes us through contexts as diverse as pre-Victorian, Victorian and twentieth century England, to the turbulence of revolutionary France, to Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia. The book is a fresh take on why some seculars succeed and others fail across nations and within the same country in different points in time. This book should be a must read for students of comparative politics, comparative historical analysis, sociology, and international relations." -Tomila Lankina, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science The Origins of Secular Institutions is a refreshing comparative historical intervention in the literature on secularism.