The role of religion/belief systems in perception of Democracy in Western and Eastern societies

Authors

  • Fikret Çelik
  • Aziz Tuncer

Keywords:

Democracy, religion, society, modernization, secularism

Abstract

Until the Enlightenment, religion and belief systems, especially in western societies, were the sole source of every understandings related to social and moral values. There was not any significant change in this perspective till the French Revolution when new conceptions of modernity and the popular sovereignty emerged influentially. The perception of democracy based upon popular will, freedom from all kind of repressive governments and equality among citizens affected the belief system of all societies to a certain degree. In XIX. and  XX. centuries during which the idea of secular state understanding  became a part of political agenda and had a positive impact on western democracy. Nonetheless, the positive correlation between secularism and democracy could not be valid for all western societies. On the other hand, in the eastern societies where democracy conceived as the outcome of modernity and popular sovereignty, its role in the belief systems is still arguable. Moreover, the practices of democracy and how to implement democratic institutions in those societies is not apparent. Both in western and eastern societies, the belief systems have been affected by secularism and the content of relationship between secularism and religions is a vital factor in the formation and development of perception of democracy.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Fikret Çelik

The author graduated from Gazi University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, department of Public Administration. His master degree is in Kırıkkale University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Social and Political Studies. He completed his Ph. d in Sakarya University,  Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Public Administration.  He is research assistant, doctor, in Krıkkale University. The main concerns of author are history of political thought, philosophy of politics and local governments. The author has some published essays on national periodicals.

Aziz Tuncer

The author graduated from Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, department of Public Administration and Political Science. His master degree is in Bilkent University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Political Science. He completed his Ph. d in Sakarya University,  Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Public Administration. The main concerns of author are history of political thought, local governments, regional governments and European Union

Published

2011-03-16

How to Cite

Çelik, F., & Tuncer, A. (2011). The role of religion/belief systems in perception of Democracy in Western and Eastern societies. Journal of Human Sciences, 8(1), 1189–1214. Retrieved from https://j-humansciences.com/ojs/index.php/IJHS/article/view/1673

Issue

Section

Political Science