State religion and state repression

In this chapter I investigate empirically whether governments that support religion are also repressive. This is an interesting, timely, and novel question for several interrelated reasons. First, this study innovates upon previousstudies by expanding the potential influence of state religious exclusivity-whether a state supports one or more religions to the exclusion of others-on the treatment of that state’s population. While, as I discuss in more detail below, previous studies show that state religious exclusivity leads to poor treatment of religious minorities, this study posits that it is also associated with repression of the entire population, including members of the majority religion.