A Question of Balance: A Study of Legal Equality and State Neutrality in the United States, France, and the Netherlands

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Western liberal democracy has a dual foundation of limited government implementing the will of the majority and protecting individual autonomy within a sphere of fundamental rights. Under the rubric of universal human rights Western societies take for granted that they tolerate all religions and treat all persons equally. However, through globalization and immigration Western societies are increasingly finding non-Christian people in their midst. This pluralism is causing polities to rethink fundamental notions of the boundaries of religious freedom, equality, and state neutrality. Three countries whose systems are based on the Western liberal democratic philosophy and which are religiously pluralistthe United States, France, and the Netherlandsare reacting in different ways. The politics of the hijab and burqa lie at the intersection of the political and legal spheres. Consequently, the political and legal spheres have each attempted to enforce differing versions of the concepts of equality and neutrality. A cross-cultural and cross-national survey of judicial decisions and legislative action in these countries demonstrates how each is balancing individual rights and communal bonds, and adhering to or retreating from previously accepted human rights norms for women and religious practices.

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A Question of Balance provides a captivating comparative study of an increasingly salient concern. * Journal of Church and State *
Not all cultural differences are equally different. Brenda Norton takes this fact very seriously.Why is it that a nun wearing full habit with wimple goes unnoticed while women with headscarves or with niqab provoke disapproval and outrage This question leads Norton to explore equality and neutrality both in theory and in context, comparing the different reactions to Muslims differences in France, the Netherlands, and the United States. Beyond dissimilarities, explained by the country history and political culture, equality and toleration, universal principles of Western liberal democracy, are put under stress in the encounter with alien cultures and non-Christian religion. -- Elisabetta Galeotti, Universit del Piemonte Orientale

Author Bio

Brenda J. Norton is adjunct professor of political science at Baylor University.