christian zionism, as an extremist christian movement, based on certain literal interpretations of the holy scripture, tend to materialize its deterministic prophetical beliefs so that to provide the ground for the reappearance of the christ at the end of the world. on the basis of this, the movement believes that men ought to pass seven phases or destinies which will lead to the reappearance o...

Why do religious minorities respond in different ways to economic development? We develop a model of religious organizations based on a historical case study of Jewish emancipation in nineteenth century Europe. In Germany, a liberal Reform movement developed in response to emancipation, while ultra-Orthodox Judaism emerged in eastern Europe. Our explanation for this polarization contributes to ...

The United States has a long history of religious influence on public policy: the anti-slavery movement, progressivism, prohibition, civil rights, abortion, school vouchers, school prayer and nuclear disarmament are all issues that have involved religion and religious groups in policymaking. In recent decades, the number of religious interest groups (as well as interest groups in general) has g...

Historians have regularly acknowledged the significance of religious faith to the eugenics movement in Britain and the USA. However, much of this scholarship suggests a polarised relationship of either conflict or consensus. Where Christian believers participated in the eugenics movement this has been represented as an abandonment of 'orthodox' theology, and the impression has been created that...

This study explores immigration reform as a possible new “moral” issue upon which American religious elites and organizations take public positions. It is argued that religion is a key independent variable necessary for understanding the determinants of public attitudes regarding immigration policy. Theoretical expectations are formed from the ethnoreligious, religious restructuralism, and mino...

GANDHI is a world-historical figure. Though he refused to formulate a religious or philosophical system, he did stand, throughout his life, for certain ideas, which are nothing if not of universal significance. In order to see this clearly, let us review, very briefly, the nature and context of the challenge to which his life and thought were a dedicated response. Within the limited scope of th...

I survey the first twenty-five years of economic change in the former communist countries after the fall of the Berlin Wall. While diverging sharply from one another, these countries have converged economically and politically towards their nearest neighbors outside the Soviet bloc. The typical country experienced a spurt of economic reform in the early 1990s, slowing dramatically from around 1...