STATE AND RELIGION OVER TIME

State and religion, two of the oldest institutions known to mankind, have historically had a close relationship with each other, often joining forces to rule populations. Although the tendency towards secularization has hampered this relationship in recent centuries, the state-religion alliance remains strong in some societies. We use a political economy approach and a unique dataset to examine the relationship between state and religion since the year 1000. We constructed the data in two steps. We first gathered information on the political and religious characteristics of over five hundred polities observed throughout history. Then, using today’s nations as units of analysis, we tracked in 50-100 year intervals which polities have ruled in these lands since 1000. Combining the information from the two files, we built a cross-national panel dataset with three objectives. First, we examine the evolution of state religion over time and its variation across geographic regions and religious traditions. Second, we use regression analysis to examine the forces affecting the adoption of state religion during the period between 1000 and 2000. Finally, we narrow the focus to the continuing presence of official monopolies in the religion market and examine the historical roots of why state religions have survived in some societies while disappearing in others at the end of the twentieth century.