The European State and Minority Religious Groups: Exploring Patterns of Engagement and Access

Abstract

This dissertation examines variations in the consistency with which governments apply certain institutions of church-state relations with respect to minority religious communities over time in Britain, France, and the Netherlands. Adopting a comparative historical approach, with a focus on Jewish and Muslim organizations operating on the national level, the research findings point to ethno-religious demographic change as a cross-cutting driver of inconsistencies across the three case studies and also highlight the role of national differences in church-state institutional arrangements in shaping the contours of the relationship between European governments and minority religious groups.