This article critically reviews the literature on morality policies and the politics of values, focusing in particular on the question of what defines morality policies as a specific policy field. Drawing from both US American and European literature, it surveys to which extent morality policies can be understood as a particular form of contention over primary values, a way of framing, a cultural conflict, a specific type of politics, or a class of substantive policy issues. The article then develops a new approach that draws on political theory and pays particular attention to the role of religion, arguing that morality policies reflect deep divisions within modern societies over key principles of political liberalism.
AnnicchinoP (2011) Winning the Battle by Losing the War: The Lautsi Case and the Holy Alliance between American Conservative Evangelicals, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican to Reshape European Identity. Religion and Human Rights6 (3): 213–219.
2.
BaumgartnerFRDe BoefSLBoydstunAE (2008) The Decline of the Death Penalty and the Discovery of Innocence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3.
BuddeETKnillCFernández-i-MarínXet al. (2018) A Matter of Timing: The Religious Factor and Morality Policies. Governance31 (1): 45–63.
4.
BurloneNRichmondRG (2018) Between Morality and Rationality: Framing End-of-Life Care Policy Through Narratives. Policy Sciences51: 313–334.
5.
EngeliI (2009) The Challenges of Abortion and Assisted Reproductive Technologies Policies in Europe. Comparative European Politics7 (1): 56–74.
6.
EngeliIVaroneF (2011) Governing Morality Issues through Procedural Policies. Swiss Political Science Review17 (3): 239–258.
7.
EngeliIGreen-PedersenCLarsenLT (eds) (2012) Morality Politics in Western Europe: Parties, Agendas and Policy Choices. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
8.
EuchnerE-MPreidelC (2018) When Morality Policies Meet Governance: Private Governance as Response to Value-Driven Conflicts. Journal of Public Policy38 (1): 57–81.
9.
EuchnerE-MHeichelSNebelKet al. (2013) From “Morality” Policy to “Normal” Policy: Framing of Drug Consumption and Gambling in Germany and the Netherlands and Their Regulatory Consequences. Journal of European Public Policy20 (3): 372–389.
10.
FerraioloK (2013) Is State Gambling Policy “Morality Policy”? Framing Debates Over State Lotteries. Policy Studies Journal41 (2): 217–242.
11.
ForetFLittoz-MonnetA (eds) (2014) The Politics of Values in EU Governance: Occurrences, Effects and Modes of Regulation of Values (Nr. 45). Politique Européenne 2014/3.
12.
FrankDJMceneaneyEH (1999) The Individualization of Society and the Liberalization of State Policies on Same-Sex Sexual Relations, 1984–1995. Social Forces77 (3): 911–943.
13.
FrankDJMeyerJW (2002) The Profusion of Individual Roles and Identities in the Postwar Period. Sociological Theory20 (1): 86–105.
14.
FrankDJCampBJBoutcherSA (2010) Worldwide Trends in the Criminal Regulation of Sex, 1945 to 2005. American Sociological Review75 (6): 867–893.
15.
HabermasJ (2008) Notes on Post-Secular Society. New Perspectives Quarterly25 (4): 17–29.
16.
HeichelSKnillCSchmittS (2013) Public Policy Meets Morality: Conceptual and Theoretical Challenges in the Analysis of Morality Policy Change. Journal of European Public Policy20 (3): 318–334.
17.
HennigA (2015) Habermas’s Translation Proviso and Conservative Religious Actors in the Public Sphere. In: BardonABirnbaumMLeeLet al (eds.) Religious Pluralism: A Resource Book. Florence: European University Institute, pp.95–103.
18.
HunterJD (1991) Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. New York: Basic Books.
19.
HunterJD (1997) Der amerikanische Kulturkrieg. In: BergerPL (ed.) Die Grenzen der Gemeinschaft: Konflikt und Vermittlung in pluralistischen Gesellschaften. Gütersloh: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung, pp.29–83.
20.
HunterJD (2016) The Enduring Culture War. In: HunterJDWolfeA (eds) Is There a Culture War? A Dialogue on Values and American Public Life. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, pp.10–40.
21.
JoppkeC (2014) Islam and the Legal Enforcement of Morality. Theory & Society43 (6): 589–615.
22.
JoppkeC (2015) The Secular State Under Siege: Religion and Politics in Europe and America. Cambridge: Polity.
23.
KnillCPreidelC (2015) Institutional Opportunity Structures and the Catholic Church: Explaining Variation in the Regulation of Same-Sex Partnerships in Ireland and Italy. Journal of European Public Policy22 (3): 374–390.
24.
KnillCPreidelCNebelK (2014) Brake Rather Than Barrier: The Impact of the Catholic Church on Morality Policies in Western Europe. West European Politics37 (5): 845–866.
25.
LabordeC (2015) Religion in the Law: The Disaggregation Approach. Law and Philosophy34 (6): 581–600.
26.
LabordeC (2017) Liberalism’s Religion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
27.
LabordeC (2018) Abortion, Marriage and Cognate Problems. The American Journal of Jurisprudence63 (1): 33–48.
28.
LaycockD (2017) The Wedding-Vendor Cases. Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy41 (1): 49–66.
29.
Littoz-MonnetA (2015) Ethics Experts as an Instrument of Technocratic Governance: Evidence from EU Medical Biotechnology Policy. Governance28 (3): 357–372.
30.
LowiTJ (1964) American Business, Public Policy, Case-Studies, and Political Theory. In: BauerRADexterLAde Sola PoolI (eds) World Politics. London: Springer, pp.677–715.
31.
LowiTJ (2011) Foreword: New Dimensions in Policy and Politics. In: LowiTJ (ed.) Moral Controversies in American Politics. London: Routledge, pp.xi–xxvii.
32.
MacDougallBBonthuysENorrieKM (2012) Conscientious Objection to Creating Same-Sex Unions: An International Analysis. Canada Journal of Human Rights1 (1): 127–164.
33.
MaclureJTaylorC (2011) Secularism and Freedom of Conscience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
34.
MarshallP (2011) Exporting Blasphemy Restrictions: The Organization of the Islamic Conference and the United Nations. The Review of Faith & International Affairs9 (2): 57–63.
35.
MaxwellCJC (2002) Pro-Life Activists in America: Meaning, Motivation, and Direct Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
36.
MeierKJ (1994) The Politics of Sin: Drugs, Alcohol and Public Policy. Armonk, NY: Routledge.
37.
MeierKJ (1999) Drugs, Sex, Rock, and Roll: A Theory of Morality Politics. Policy Studies Journal27 (4): 681–695.
38.
MinkenbergM (2003) The Policy Impact of Church–State Relations: Family Policy and Abortion in Britain, France, and Germany. West European Politics26 (1): 195–217.
39.
MolendijkAL (2015) In Pursuit of the Postsecular. International Journal of Philosophy and Theology76 (2): 100–115.
40.
MooneyCZ (1999) The Politics of Morality Policy: Symposium Editor’s Introduction. Policy Studies Journal27 (4): 675–680.
41.
MooneyCZ (2001) The Public Clash of Private Values: The Politics of Morality Policy (ed. MooneyCZ). Washington, DC: CQ Press.
42.
MooneyCZSchuldtRG (2008) Does Morality Policy Exist? Testing a Basic Assumption. Policy Studies Journal36 (2): 199–218.
43.
MucciaroniG (2011) Are Debates about “Morality Policy” Really about Morality? Framing Opposition to Gay and Lesbian Rights. Policy Studies Journal39 (2): 187–216.
44.
SavulescuJSchuklenkU (2017) Doctors Have no Right to Refuse Medical Assistance in Dying, Abortion or Contraception. Bioethics31 (3): 162–170.
45.
SchwartzMATatalovichR (2018) The Rise and Fall of Moral Conflicts in the United States and Canada. Toronto, ON, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
46.
SmithTATatalovichR (eds) (2003) Cultures at War: Moral Conflicts in Western Democracies. Peterborough, ON, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
47.
SmythL (2016) Abortion and the Nation: The Politics of Reproduction in Contemporary Ireland. London: Routledge.
48.
SnowDARochfordEBWordenSKet al. (1986) Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and Movement Participation. American Sociological Review51 (4): 464–481.
49.
StoecklK (2014) The Russian Orthodox Church and Human Rights. London: Routledge.
50.
StoecklK (2016a) Postsecular Conflicts and the Global Struggle for Traditional Values. State, Religion and Church3 (2): 102–116.
51.
StoecklK (2016b) The Russian Orthodox Church as Moral Norm Entrepreneur. Religion, State and Society44 (2): 132–151.
52.
StoecklK (2017) Political Liberalism and Religious Claims: Four Blind Spots. Philosophy & Social Criticism43 (1): 34–50.
53.
StudlarDTBurnsGJ (2015) Toward the Permissive Society? Morality Policy Agendas and Policy Directions in Western Democracies. Policy Sciences48 (3): 273–291.
54.
StudlarDTCagossiA (2018) Institutions and Morality Policy in Western Democracies. Review of Policy Research35 (1): 61–88.
55.
StudlarDTCagossiADuvalRD (2013) Is Morality Policy Different? Institutional Explanations for Post-War Western Europe. Journal of European Public Policy20 (3): 353–371.
56.
TatalovichRDaynesBW (eds) (2011) Moral Controversies in American Politics. London: Routledge.
57.
TaylorC (2007) A Secular Age. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
