RT Article
T1 Catholic churches’ stances toward electoral manipulation in the post-Third Wave period
JF Politics and religion
VO 18
IS 3
SP 408
OP 431
A1 Osama Lotfy, Dina
LA English
YR 2025
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1963807898
AB As Catholic churches played a tremendous role in the third wave of democratization, it is crucial to examine their role in the current trends of autocratization. Given the potential for democratic backsliding resulting from elections, I study the official stances of national Catholic churches toward electoral manipulation in 59 cases across different regions, post-Third Wave. I find that 32% of the Catholic churches resisted electoral manipulation, while 34% called for peace, and 34% took no stance. I argue that beyond religious market dynamics, historical context also shapes Catholic churches’ cost-benefit calculations. Using logistic and multinomial regression models, I contend that Catholic churches resist electoral manipulation when government favoritism toward Catholicism is too low, even when they control a considerable proportion of the population. Additionally, the historical pro-democratizing role of Catholic churches positively influences their decision to resist electoral manipulation, particularly for those facing high competition in the religious market.
K1 Autocratization
K1 Catholic Church
K1 Democratic backsliding
K1 Electoral manipulation
K1 religious competition
DO 10.1017/S1755048325100114