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The Forgotten Cleavage? Religion and Politics in Australia*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2009

Clive Bean
Clive Bean
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology
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Abstract

In Australia, religion historically has been seen as a secondary but nonetheless significant sociopolitical cleavage, in part cutting across the class divide. In recent times, Australian scholars, like those elsewhere, have been inclined to argue that the political significance of religion is a legacy of the past and that religion no longer plays an important role in shaping mass political behaviour. Although class is also said to have declined in political significance, it is still treated as being of some importance as a cornerstone of the party system. However, many scholars seem more willing to dismiss the relevance of religion altogether. Using sample survey data collected over more than 25 years, this article examines the role of religion in modern Australian electoral politics and assesses the adequacy of such arguments.

Résumé

En Australie la religion a longtemps été perçue comme un facteur secondaire mais néanmoins significatif des clivages socio-politiques. Désormais, les chercheurs australiens, comme ceux de d'autres pays, ont tendance à soutenir que la religion est un leg du passé et qu'elle ne joue plus, par conséquent, un rôle important dans le façonnement des comportements politiques des citoyens. Quoique l'appartenance de classe soit considéréd comme un déterminant politique de moins en moins significatif, on continue néanmoins à lui accorder une certaine importance en tant que pierre angulaire du système politique. Plusieurs chercheurs par contre sont enclins a nier toute pertinence au facteur religieux. Cet article vérifie la validity de ces thèses par une analyse de l'impact de la religion sur les pratiques électorates de l'Australie moderne, à l'aide d'un échantillon de données qui couvre une période de plus de 25 années.

Type
Note
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , September 1999 , pp. 551 - 568
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 1999

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References

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