Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP14706
Authors: Jeanet Bentzen; Gunes Gokmen
Abstract: Why does religion play a central role in some societies? Rulers have historically used religion to legitimize their power, which incentivized them to embed religion into institutions. This institutionalization of religion thus may explain why religion persists despite modernization. Using data across 1265 premodern societies and 176 countries, we provide evidence supporting divine legitimization and the resulting institutionalization of religion. For identification, we exploit exogenous variation in the incentives to employ religion for power purposes.We document two implications: countries that relied more on divine legitimization are more autocratic today and their populace more religious.
Keywords: persistence of religion; institutionalization of religion; religious laws; religion; religious legitimization; divine legitimization; stratification; high gods; democracy; religiosity
JEL Codes: O1; P48; Z12; Z13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| historical divine legitimization (B15) | persistence of religion in contemporary societies (Z12) |
| rulers in stratified societies (P26) | use religion for power legitimization (Z12) |
| presence of moralizing high gods (A13) | prevalence in stratified societies (Z13) |
| developed moralizing high gods (A13) | greater prevalence of religious laws today (Z12) |
| institutionalization of religion (Z12) | lower levels of democracy (D72) |
| presence of religious laws (Z12) | autocratic governance (D73) |
| historical reliance on divine legitimization (B15) | higher likelihood of having religious laws today (Z12) |
| higher irrigation potential in the past (Q15) | developed moralizing high gods (A13) |