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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
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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.

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Type
Articles
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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

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