Plamen Akaliyski

Abstract

Topic of this seminar paper is identifying and examining relevant factors which are able to explain differences in levels of religiousness among the European Union countries. Secularisation theories factors such as economic development, modernization, education and urbanisation have been discussed and a number of problems of their application were identified. An alternative factor which was proposed to be more relevant was the importance of the religion as an element of the national identity. Regression analyses implemented in the paper proves that secularisation theories factors have minor importance in answering the question why some nations are more religious than others, while the importance of Christianity for national identity was proved to explain the greatest part of this variance. This analyses offer a model where no exceptions exist any longer apart from Orthodox countries which also fit but at a slightly lower parallel level. The insight gained from this analysis could be employed in the debate of secularisation and supply side theories over the importance of religion in modern societies and for predicting future developments. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>