Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Publication Date

3-29-2024

College

Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, College of

Department

Political Science, Department of

BURS Faculty Advisor

Dr. Vaughn May

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Abstract

What causes government instability? This question has sparked various arguments. While some attribute government instability to economic factors like income inequality, others point to political dynamics such as the number of effective parties, or social factors like trust in the government. However, this paper argues that religious extremism, particularly when propagated by states through the adoption and enforcement of laws, policies, and practices that excessively integrate religious doctrines into the legal and governance framework, is a significant driver of government instability.

In this paper, we specifically utilize data from the year 2013. We employ the Gini index to account for economic factors, the effective number of parties to address political factors, citizens' trust in government to consider social factors, and the Government Performance Index (GPI) to measure government instability to test our hypothesis. Through the utilization of multiple linear regressions to identify causal variables, this study demonstrates a strong association between religious extremism and government instability. Consequently, we conclude that as religious extremism intensifies, so does government instability.

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