Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T17:47:07.997Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Religionization from the Bottom up: Religiosity Trends and Institutional Change Mechanisms in Israeli Public Services

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2017

Amos Zehavi
Amos Zehavi*
Affiliation:
Tel Aviv University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Amos Zehavi, Department of Political Science and Department of Public Policy, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. E-mail: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study asks how religious change at the social level (as expressed in increased religiosity) influences the religious behavior of public organizations. The study's empirical foundation is three Israeli case studies that focus on the impact of growing religiosity in Israeli Jewish society on three large public institutions: the military, healthcare, and schools. Based on comparative analysis of the three case studies, it is shown that variation in the extent of religionization in public organizations is influenced primarily by the religious composition of workers and consumers of a specific public organization. The influence of political pressure from above, however, is marginal. In addition, this study demonstrates how organizational religionization is differentially mediated by institutional mechanisms/structures: institutional layering or conversion.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , September 2017 , pp. 489 - 514
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I am grateful to Noa Gani, Maya Kramer, Eden Vaknin, and Ido Yahel for their invaluable research assistance. I would also like to thank Asher Cohen for sharing his insights with me about religionization in the military. A previous iteration of this paper was presented at the Religion in Public Space and in the Public Sector panel at the American Political Science Association Annual Conference (San Francisco, September 3–6, 2015). I thank all participants for their useful comments.

References

REFERENCES

B'. 2010. “The Place of the Yarmulke' Bearers among Israel's Tactical Command.” Maarchot 32:50–57 (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Ben-Porat, G., and Shamir, O.. 2012. “Days of (un) Rest: Political Consumerism and the Struggle over the Sabbath.” Politics and Religion 5:161–186.Google Scholar
Ben-Porat, G. 2013. Between State and Synagogue: The Secularization of Contemporary Israel. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bennett, A., and Checkel, J.T., eds. 2014. Process Tracing: From Metaphor to Analytic Tool. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bennhold, K. 2014. “Report Cites ‘Aggressive’ Islamic Push in British City's Schools.” www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/world/europe/report-cites-aggressive-islamic-push-in-british-citys-schools.html?_r=0 (Accessed on October 7, 2015).Google Scholar
Berger, P.L. 1999. The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.Google Scholar
Blass, N., Zussman, N., and Tsur, S.. 2012. “What Did You Learn In School Today, Dear Little Boy of Mine? The Use of Teacher Work Hours in Primary Schools.” www.boi.org.il/deptdata/mehkar/papers/dp1203h.pdf (Accessed on April 2, 2014).Google Scholar
Bruce, S. 2013. Secularization: In Defense of an Unfashionable Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Casanova, J. 1994. Public Religions in the Modern World. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Central Bureau of Statistics. 2014. “Statistical Abstract of Israel 2014: Table 7.1.: Persons Aged 20 and Over, by Selected Characteristics” www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st07_01x&CYear=2014 (Accessed on February 3, 2016).Google Scholar
Cohen, A., and Susser, B.. 2012. “Religious Pressure Will Increase in the Future.” Israel Studies Review 27:16–20.Google Scholar
Cohen, G. 2015. “Israeli Army Makes Plans to Limit Religious Influence on Troops.” Haaretz, November 30.Google Scholar
Dobbelaere, K. 1979. “Professionalization and Secularization in the Belgian Catholic Pillar.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 6:39–64.Google Scholar
Don-Yehiya, E. 2005. “Orthodox Jewry in Israel and in North America.” Israel Studies 10:157–187.Google Scholar
Engeli, I., Green-Pedersen, C., and Larsen, L. T.. 2013. “The Puzzle of Permissiveness: Understanding Policy Processes Concerning Morality Issues.” Journal of European Public Policy 20:335–352.Google Scholar
Falleti, T., and Lynch, J.. 2009. “Context and Causal Mechanisms in Political Analysis.” Comparative Political Studies 42:1143–1166.Google Scholar
Fiedelman, E. 2010. Different Aspects of the State of Jewish Studies in Public Schools. Jerusalem: Jerusalem Knesset Research and Information Center (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Fink, S. 2009. “Churches as Societal Veto Players: Religious Influence in Actor-Centered Theories of Policy-Making.” West European Politics 32:77–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, J. 2006. “World Separation of Religion and State into the 21st Century.” Comparative Political Studies 39:537–569.Google Scholar
Fox, J. 2008. A World Survey of Religion and the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gal, A. 2016. “The Knesset Rejected — There Will Not Be Euthanasia in Israel.” YNET, July 13. www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4827930,00.html (Accessed August 5, 2016).Google Scholar
Gal, R., and Libel, T., eds. 2012. Between the Yarmulke and the Beret: Religion, Politics and the Military in Israel. Modan: Ben-Shemen (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Hacker, J.S. 2004. “Privatizing Risk without Privatizing the Welfare State: The Hidden Politics of Social Policy Retrenchment in the United States.” American Political Science Review 98:243–260.Google Scholar
Harel, A. 2011. “IDF General Causes Storm after Calling to Curtail Religiosity in Army.” Haaretz, July 20.Google Scholar
Hays, B.D. 2012. “The Curious Case of School Prayer: Political Entrepreneurship and the Resilience of Legal Institutions.” Politics and Religion 5:394–418.Google Scholar
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 2014. “Statistical Abstract of Israel 2014—No. 65: Table 8.10: Students in Primary Education by Supervision.” www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/shnatone_new.htm?CYear=2014&Vol=65&CSubject=30 (Accessed on February 5, 2016).Google Scholar
Karpov, V. 2010. “Desecularization: A Conceptual Framework.” Journal of Church and State 52:232–270.Google Scholar
Knesset. 2010. “The strengthening of Jewish Studies.” Education, Culture and Sports Committee Hearing. Jerusalem. July 3. knesset.gov.il/protocols/data/rtf/chinuch/2010-07-07-01.rtf (Accessed on March 22, 2015).Google Scholar
Knill, C., Preidel, C., and Nebel, K.. 2014. “Brake Rather Than Barrier: The Impact of the Catholic Church on Morality Policies in Western Europe.” West European Politics 37:845–866.Google Scholar
Levinson, C. 2012. “Mada Established a Rabbinical Committee to Supervise the Organization.” Haaretz, June 25 (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Levy, Y. 2010. “The Clash between Feminism and Religion in the Israeli Military: A Multilayered Analysis.” Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society 17:185–209.Google Scholar
Levy, Y. 2015. The Divine Commander: The Theocratization of the Israeli Military. Tel Aviv: Am Oved (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Lijphart, A. 1975. The Politics of Accommodation: Pluralism and Democracy in the Netherlands. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Lisovskaya, E., and Karpov, V.. 2010. “Orthodoxy, Islam, and the Desecularization of Russia's State Schools.” Politics and Religion 3:276–302.Google Scholar
Minkenberg, M. 2002. “Religion and Public Policy: Institutional, Cultural, and Political Impact on the Shaping of Abortion Policies in Western Democracies.” Comparative Political Studies 35:221–247.Google Scholar
Monsma, S. V., and Soper, J. C.. 2009. The Challenge of Religious Pluralism: Church and State in Five Democracies. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Norris, P., and Inglehart, R.. 2004. Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pierson, P. 2000. “Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics.” American Political Science Review 94:251–267.Google Scholar
Rushowy, K. 2016. “Toronto School Offers Sanitized Sex-ed Amid Parent Concern.” www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2016/05/13/toronto-school-offers-sanitized-sex-ed-amid-parent-concern.html (Accessed on December 15, 2016).Google Scholar
Shelfman, M. 2009. Work, Welfare and Health Committee Hearing. Jerusalem: Knesset. December 22.Google Scholar
Shenhar Committee. 1994. Am Ve Olam (People and World). Jerusalem: Ministry of Education and Culture.Google Scholar
Shir, T. 2014. “Gender Segregation in Hebrew State Religious Primary Schools.” www.boi.org.il/he/Research/DocLib1/PP1406.pdf (Accessed on March 24, 2015).Google Scholar
Sofer, R. 2010. “PM: Barzilai Hospital's ER Location Stands.” Yediot Ahronot, April 2.Google Scholar
Streeck, W., and Thelen, K., eds. 2005. Beyond Continuity: Institutional Change in Advanced Political Economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
The State Comptroller. 2012. “Annual Audit Report #62 for 2011.” Jerusalem: 1599–1625 (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Thelen, K. 1999. “Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics.” Annual Review of Political Science 2:39–404.Google Scholar
Valler, S. 2006. “Approaches to Jewish Studies in Secular Israeli Society.” In Study and Knowledge in Jewish Thought, ed. Kreisel, H. Beer-Sheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press.Google Scholar
Westerlund, D. 2013. “Diverging Muslim Views on Healthcare in Sweden: An Outline of a New Research Field.” In Alternative Voices: A Plurality Approach for Religion Studies, eds. Adogame, A., Echtler, M., and Freiberger, O.. Bristol, CT: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.Google Scholar
Zehavi, A. 2012. “Moving in Opposite Directions? Religious Involvement in Welfare Provision in Israel and the Low Countries.” Social Service Review 86:429–453.Google Scholar