Dr Christopher Raymond, Queen's University Belfast, "Religious Diversity and the Choice of Political Institutions".

Christopher Raymond is Lecturer in Politics at Queen’s University Belfast. His research examines the impact of social structures like religion, class, and ethnicity on voting behaviour and party systems.

Abstract

Although a sizeable body of research has examined the degree to which political institutions interact with social diversity to shape the development of party systems, less attention has been paid to the determinants of electoral system design. The present study examines the impact of religious diversity on the choice electoral system in countries around the world. While religious diversity may lead to countries choosing to adopt PR in some contexts to ensure that each group is represented in parliament, the results show that when religious issues compete with economic issues, religious diversity becomes associated with the use of majoritarian systems. These findings contribute to the growing literature regarding the endogeneity of electoral systems suggesting that the effects of electoral institutions may in part reflect the indirect influence of religious and other social structures.

Wednesday 24 February, 4PM, MS Teams

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