1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910963024103321

Autore

Koppelman Andrew

Titolo

Defending American religious neutrality / / Andrew Koppelman

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge, Mass., : Harvard University Press, 2013

ISBN

9780674071070

0674071077

9780674067561

0674067568

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (243 pages)

Disciplina

342.7308/52

Soggetti

Church and state - United States

Freedom of religion - United States

Ecclesiastical law - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1 The American Specification of Neutrality -- 2 Corruption of Religion and the Establishment Clause -- 3 Religion Clause Doctrine Explained -- 4 Why Single Out Religion? -- 5 A Secular State? -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Although it is often charged with hostility toward religion, First Amendment doctrine in fact treats religion as a distinctive human good. It insists, however, that this good be understood abstractly, without the state taking sides on any theological question. Here, a leading scholar of constitutional law explains the logic of this uniquely American form of neutrality-more religion-centered than liberal theorists propose, and less overtly theistic than conservatives advocate. The First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion is under threat. Growing numbers of critics, including a near-majority of the Supreme Court, seem ready to cast aside the ideal of American religious neutrality. Andrew Koppelman defends that ideal and explains why protecting religion from political manipulation is imperative in an America of growing religious diversity. Understanding American religious neutrality, Koppelman shows, can explain some familiar puzzles. How



can Bible reading in public schools be impermissible while legislative sessions begin with prayers, Christmas is an official holiday, and the words "under God" appear in the Pledge of Allegiance? Are faith-based social services, public financing of religious schools, or the teaching of intelligent design constitutional? Combining legal, historical, and philosophical analysis, Koppelman shows how law coherently navigates these conundrums. He explains why laws must have a secular legislative purpose, why old, but not new, ceremonial acknowledgments of religion are permitted, and why it is fair to give religion special treatment.

2.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910155246903321

Autore

Grgic Goran <1965-, >

Titolo

Ethnic conflict in asymmetric federations : comparative experience of the former Soviet and Yugoslav regions / / Gorana Grgic

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; ; New York : , : Routledge, , 2017

ISBN

1-315-54516-0

1-134-82119-0

1-134-82112-3

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (287 pages) : illustrations

Collana

Routledge studies in federalism and decentralization ; ; 3

Disciplina

303.6/408900947

Soggetti

Ethnic conflict - Former Soviet republics

Ethnic conflict - Former Yugoslav republics

Minorities - Government policy - Soviet Union

Minorities - Government policy - Yugoslavia

Democratization - Former Soviet republics

Democratization - Former Yugoslav republics

Federal government - Soviet Union

Federal government - Yugoslavia

Soviet Union Ethnic relations Political aspects

Yugoslavia Ethnic relations Political aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.



Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- 1. Dynamics of ethnonationalist mobilization and occurrence of conflicts in asymmetric federations -- 2. USSR and SFRY : sources of war and peace in asymmetric ethnofederations -- 3. Russia and Sebia : the core as the key -- 4. The Periphery I : early to rise, early to fight? -- 5. The Periphery II : mobilizational laggards and interethnic confects -- 6. The Periphery III : the conflict near misses -- Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

In the last years of their existence, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) found themselves facing a similar and very grim state of affairs. After their disintegration, the former Yugoslav republics spiralled into a set of ethnic conflicts that did not leave a single one of them unscathed, and in the ex-Soviet space, conflicts were far more limited. This book offers an in-depth analysis of the difference in state collapses and ensuing conflicts in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia by focusing on their asymmetric ethnofederal structure and the different dynamics of ethnic mobilization that the federal units experienced. Moreover, it explores the links between identity politics and international relations, as the latter has been a latecomer in research on ethnonationalism and ethnic conflict. Finally, it contributes to the literature on the democratization-conflict nexus by proposing that the sequencing of ethnic mobilization and political liberalization has significant effects on the likelihood of conflict. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of Post-Soviet politics, Balkan politics, ethnic conflict, peace and conflict studies, federalism, and more broadly to comparative politics and international relations.