Confessions of an Interest Group: The Catholic Church and Political Parties in Europe

Carolyn M. Warner

Published by Princeton University Press 2000

Confessions of an Interest Group

The Catholic Church and Political Parties in Europe

Carolyn M. Warner

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400823680

Overview
Contents

About this book

Following World War II, the Catholic Church in Europe faced the challenge of establishing political influence with newly emerging democratic governments. The Church became, as Carolyn Warner pointedly argues, an interest group like any other, seeking to attain and solidify its influence by forming alliances with political parties. The author analyzes the Church's differing strategies in Italy, France, and Germany using microeconomic theories of the firm and historical institutionalism. She demonstrates how only a strategic perspective can explain the choice and longevity of the alliances in each case. In so doing, the author challenges earlier work that ignores the costs to interest groups and parties of sustaining or breaking their reciprocal links.

Confessions of an Interest Group challenges the view of the Catholic Church as solely a moral force whose interests are seamlessly represented by the Christian Democratic parties. Blending theory, cultural narrative, and archival research, Warner demonstrates that the French Church's superficial and brief connection with a political party was directly related to its loss of political influence during the War. The Italian Church's power, on the other hand, remained stable through the War, so the Church and the Christian Democrats more easily found multiple grounds for long-term cooperation. The German Church chose yet another path, reluctantly aligning itself with a new Catholic-Protestant party. This book is an important work that expands the growing literature on the economics of religion, interest group behavior, and the politics of the Catholic Church.

Author / Editor information

Carolyn M. Warner is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Arizona State University.

Reviews

"This book will undoubtedly be read and debated by a wide range of scholars in political science and sociology. Warner makes a bold argument and adds substantially to our knowledge of the Catholic Church, interest groups, and European politics."—Anthony Gill, University of Washington

"This is a book that opens eyes, not only about the role of religion in politics and how to understand it, but about the proper ways of understanding party-interest group relations in all sorts of settings. It elaborates a perspective that is innovative, bold, and powerful. I came away deeply impressed."—Peter Hall, Harvard University

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Tables Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xv
Chapter 1. Introduction: The Catholic Church and Democracy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
Chapter 2. Interest Groups, Political Parties, and Religion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
Chapter 3. The Constraints and Opportunities of History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
Chapter 4. Interests, Identities, and Role Definition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
Chapter 5. Selecting an Ally: The Catholic Church and Christian Democracy in Italy and France Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
Chapter 6. Evaluating the Alliance: Exit or Voice? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
Chapter 7. Getting Out the Vote: Mobilization Techniques Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
Chapter 8. Christian Democratic Parties and Their Search for Allies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
Chapter 9. Comparative Perspectives: Germany Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Chapter 10. The Political Crossroads of Catholicism in Postwar Europe: Contributions to a Theory of Interest Groups Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243

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