Religious Belief,Religious Denomination,and Preferences for Redistribution: A Comparison across 13 Countries

Despite clear evidence of a link between religion and welfare state development, research on public support for redistributive social policies has been slow to incorporate religion into models of public preferences. Does religious belief influence support for redistribution? If so, does religion necessarily increase hostility to redistribution as suggested by existing research? Or, do the Catholic and Protestant traditions generate different patterns of preferences consistent with Weber’s notion of a Protestant work ethic? This research explores these questions by comparing public support for redistribution across 13 European states. The data reveal a powerful and complex effect of religious belief on support for redistribution that works on both the individual and cultural levels. The evidence challenges existing research by demonstrating that the impact of religion is not uniform, but varies across different religious traditions, with Catholicism producing significantly greater support for redistribution than Protestantism.     

Wilayat al-Faqih in Hizballah's Web of Concepts: A Perspective on Ideology

This study explores the use of a web of concepts as an analytical tool for investigating a movement's ideology. It locates wilayat al-faqih [guardianship of the jurisprudent] in Hizballah's web of concepts and identifies how wilayat al-faqih has been defined and used throughout the organization's history. Hizballah's web has always included a mix of Islamic, quasi-Islamic, and non-Islamic concepts. Wilayat al-faqih has been a source of legitimacy and authority for Hizballah and a unifying concept within the movement. Claiming allegiance to it has resulted in material and ideological support from Iran. However, the radical change in the national context required Hizballah to re-articulate the concept upon the end of the Lebanese Civil War. The death of Khomeini and intellectual contributions by Shia scholars enabled Hizballah leaders to separate political from religious authority and to decentralize the political power of wilayat al-faqih. By modifying the concept, Hizballah leaders were able to continue their revolutionary mission in a new way and in a new context.     

A Tort-Based Approach to Damages under the Human Rights Act 1998

This article argues that a strong case can be made for departing from the current approach to damages under the Human Rights Act 1998, and for the adoption of an alternative tort-based approach. The article critically analyses the English courts' arguments against adopting a tort-based approach and demonstrates that neither the Act nor the European Convention on Human Rights militate against such approach. It makes a positive case for a tort-based approach, arguing that the law of damages in tort provides an appropriate model for damages under the Act as a matter of principle given the common functions and protected interests that underpin both areas of the law. Further, tort law offers an established and elaborate corpus of principles to draw on, which can readily and naturally be read across to the human rights context. A tort-based approach would also promote consistency across English law, while generally affording greater protection to human rights than the English courts' current approach.     

Critical Stress: Police Officer Religiosity and Coping with Critical Stress Incidents

As a result of exposure to critical stress inducing incidents, police officers experience high rates of family disruption, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and physical and psychological problems. This paper evaluates the ability of religion to mitigate the harmful consequences of critical stress using data obtained from a survey of metropolitan police officers (n?=?811). Contrary to our expectations, we found less religious officer used more adaptive coping strategies when confronted by critical stress incidents than their more religious counterparts. Furthermore, we found Protestants employed more adaptive strategies than Catholics. Potential explanations for the unexpected findings are discussed.