Abstract
This chapter looks at the impact of religion on the political participation of Muslims in Switzerland. We distinguish between two dimensions of the potential impact of religion on participation: an individual dimension concerning individual religiosity and a collective dimension pertaining to collective religious embeddedness. Our analysis shows that the collective dimension matters, while the individual dimension has no effect. We then speculate on the connections between the collective dimension of religion and political participation by drawing from three theoretical perspectives that have stressed the role of voluntary associations for political engagement: the civic voluntarism, the social capital, and the group consciousness perspectives.
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Notes
- 1.
The data come from a survey on a random sample of Muslims formed by three subsamples according to the three main areas of origin of Muslims in Switzerland (Turkey, Maghreb, and former Yugoslavia) as well as a control group formed by non-Muslim residents, conducted between the 6th of April and the 6th of September 2009. The sample of Maghrebis includes people from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. The sample of former Yugoslavians includes people from Serbia (Kosovo), Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia. Muslim respondents were selected on the basis of nationality from the lists of addresses provided by the Federal Office for Migration. A number of screening questions were then used to control whether respondents retrieved from the lists could be considered as Muslims either ethnically (being of a Muslim culture or heritage) or religiously (being of Islamic religion). The sample of the control group of Swiss nationals was generated randomly from the Swiss phone book. The interviews were conducted by telephone (CATI method) using a standardized multilingual questionnaire. Muslim respondents had the possibility to answer in their mother tongue or in the language spoken in their place of residence. The average duration of each interview was around 40 minutes. In total, 302 Turks, 298 Maghrebis, 301 former Yugoslavians, and 305 Swiss were interviewed.
- 2.
Contact activities include the following items: contacted a politician, contacted a national or local government official, contacted the media, and contacted a solicitor or a judicial body for nonpersonal reasons. Group activities include the following items: worked in a political party, worked in a political action group, and donated money to a political organization or group. Protest activities include the following items: worn or displayed a badge, sticker, or poster; signed a petition; taken part in a public demonstration; boycotted certain products; deliberately bought certain products for political reasons; taken part in a strike; participated in an illegal action (e.g., blockade, building occupation); and participated in a violent action (e.g., violent demonstration, physical attack).
- 3.
Since we are dealing with a sample of foreigners, most of whom do not have voting rights, we exclude this form of participation.
- 4.
Since the dependent variable (overall political participation) is a dummy variable that takes either value 0 or 1, we run a logistic regression. Odds ratios are shown in the table.
- 5.
Odds ratios are the exponentials of the unstandardized regression coefficients (B) and can be interpreted as showing a multiplying effect on the dependent variable. Odds ratios above 1 indicate a positive effect, while odds ratios below 1 indicate a negative effect.
- 6.
These three theoretical perspectives are not focused on the participation of migrants and ethnic minorities, but are more general theories of political participation.
- 7.
See, for instance, the creation of a representative council for observant Muslims (Conseil Français du Culte Musulman) created in 2004. For an overview of such trend in other countries, see Laurence (2012).
- 8.
These are the KIOS (Coordination of Swiss Islamic Organizations) and the FOIS (Federation of Swiss Islamic Organizations). It is interesting to notice that the Swiss Islamic Central Council is not part of this project.
- 9.
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Giugni, M., Gianni, M., Michel, N. (2013). The Impact of Religion on the Political Participation of Muslims: The Case of Switzerland. In: de Hart, J., Dekker, P., Halman, L. (eds) Religion and Civil Society in Europe. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6815-4_13
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