ABSTRACT
Engeli et al. (2012) developed the “two worlds of morality politics theory” (TWMP) in order to explain why morality issues in some Western European countries are addressed in the arena of parliamentary politics and lead to passionate debates between political parties, whereas in other countries, these are left to expert committees to decide on in relative silence. As ART also counts as a morality issue, first, this chapter will address the question of whether this theory also fits with some of the cases of ART policy making as addressed in our compilation. The TWMP’s hypothesis that a religious-secular cleavage in the party system drives the politicization of morality issues is confirmed – more or less – by comparing the Dutch and the Austrian country cases – both belonging to the religious world – with the Swedish. However, the Austrian case offers a puzzle, as in comparison to the Dutch case, it shows a much lower degree of politicization of ART issues. Second, this chapter tries to solve this puzzle by addressing insights about wedge issue politics.
