ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of religion in recent democratisation in various parts of the world. Religious traditions have core elements which are more or less conducive to democratisation and democracy. The focal points were the third wave of democracy, between the mid-1970s and early 2000s, and the Arab Spring, which began in late 2010. Democratisation is best thought of as a process and may occur over time in four not necessarily separate stages: political liberalisation, collapse of authoritarian regime, democratic transition and democratisation consolidation. Religious actors relationships with the state are not limited to attempts by governments to try to build civil religions within their countries. The chapter shows such a development at three levels: political society, civil society and at the level of the state itself. Expanding the problem of churchstate relations to non-Christian contexts necessitates some preliminary conceptual clarifications not least because the very idea of a prevailing churchstate dichotomy derives from Christian culture.
