Sven W. Speer, M. A.

Institute of Political Science

Curriculum Vitae:

PhD project:

The Public Policy on Religion of the German States. A Comparison of the political regulation of religion in the German Bundesländer and an investigation about the conditions of their variance

Religious topics are back on the agenda of German politics. The dispute over headscarves of Muslim teachers, the implementation of a compulsory state-controlled ethics school subject in Brandenburg and the introduction of Islamic religious education in schools are just a few examples for the recent changes in policy on religion. These changes are highly contested in political, social and scientific discourses. However, due to the religious and ideological pluralisation, older regulations such as church taxes, the public salary of clerics and the support of faith based schools are increasingly seen as equally important issues.

Discussions of these issues are largely perceived based on assumptions which have not yet been verified empirically. The dominating view argues that there exists a single model of state and religion in Germany from which only some Bundesländer deviate in some aspects. As a matter of fact one can see that the federal states treat religion in many different ways while acting within the frame of the German model. My work investigates systematically the extent and the asymmetry in the political support of religion among the Bundesländer. It therefore will enhance the possibilities for shaping public policies on religion, as it shows that these are not characterized by unity but by variety within a uniform frame.

The variety in the public policy on religion arrangements will be described on the level of policy programs, e. g. religious education in school, religion in private media, salaries for clerics. The variety in extent and asymmetry will be systemized by using Qualitative Comparative Methods (QCA) which also help to determine configurations of conditions responsible for particular programme designs. The results of the programme analysis be summarized for the fields in public policy on religion (education, media, clerics etc.) and compared on the federal level. My work concludes by merging these results with holistic case studies that describe the specificity of each Bundesland in its public policies on religion and the conditions that led to its specific design.

Research interests:

• Politics and Religion
• Public Policy on Religion, Political Regulation of Religion
• Political Economy of Religion
• Comparative Political Science
• Policy Field Analysis, Public Policy of the German Federal States
• Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)

Publications:

Articles

• Der Panarabismus – eine gescheiterte staatenübergreifende Idee?, in: Schlicht, Daniela/Saleem, Shazia/Robert, Rüdiger (ed.): Kollektive Identitätskonstruktionen im Nahen und Mittleren Osten unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Staat und Religion, Mainz 2010. (Pan-Arabism – a failed state transcending idea?, in Schlicht, Daniela/Saleem, Shazia/Robert, Rüdiger (ed.): Constructions of Collective Identities in the Near and Mid East under Specific Consideration of State and Religion, Mainz 2010)

Lectures

• The Changing Role of Religion in Western States and Societies (01. November, Transatlantic Dialogue Program of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Washington DC/US)
• The religious policy of the German Bundesländer as integrative practices. Structure, content and determinants (04. September 2008, UCSIA Summerschool on Religion, Culture and Society 2008, Antwerp/Belgium)
• Die politische Unterstützung für Religion in den Bundesländern. Organisation und Leistung von Verwaltung im Politikfeld Religion (The Political Support for Religion in the German Federal States. Organisation and Performance of Administration in the Policy Field Religion) (27. November 2008, IMIS-Kolloquium, Universität Osnabrück)

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