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Toward the permissive society? Morality policy agendas and policy directions in Western democracies

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  • Donley Studlar
  • Gordon Burns

Abstract

Employing two theories of morality policy, Policy Types and the "Two Worlds" of religious/secular party systems, we describe and attempt to explain the empirical patterns for five morality policy issues (abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, assisted reproductive technology/stem cell research, and same-sex marriage) across 24 Western democracies since World War II. What is the content of policy adoption? Are some countries consistently more permissive or restrictive on morality issues? How long do these issues stay on the political agenda? These issues have been on the agendas of all of the countries for varying time periods, with some being older in vintage (death penalty, abortion, euthanasia) than others (ART/stem cells and same-sex marriage). The general tendency has been toward greater permissiveness, but there still remains considerable policy diversity. While there has been substantial change on morality policies in Western democracies since World War II, the change is more thorough in some jurisdictions and in some regions more than others. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Donley Studlar & Gordon Burns, 2015. "Toward the permissive society? Morality policy agendas and policy directions in Western democracies," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 48(3), pages 273-291, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:48:y:2015:i:3:p:273-291
    DOI: 10.1007/s11077-015-9218-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Donley T. Studlar, 2008. "U.S. Tobacco Control: Public Health, Political Economy, or Morality Policy?," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 25(5), pages 393-410, September.
    2. Kenneth D. Wald & James W. Button & Barbara A. Rienzo, 2001. "Morality Politics vs. Political Economy: The Case of School‐Based Health Centers," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 82(2), pages 221-234, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Christoph Knill & Xavier Fernández‐i‐Marín & Emma Budde & Stephan Heichel, 2020. "Religious tides: The time‐variant effect of religion on morality policies," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(2), pages 256-270, April.
    2. Job P. H. Vossen & Gabriëlle L. Pooter & Petra Meier, 2022. "Conceptualizing morality policy: a dyadic morality frame analysis of a gendered legislative debate on abortion," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 55(1), pages 185-207, March.
    3. Eva Thomann, 2018. "“Donate your organs, donate life!” Explicitness in policy instruments," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(4), pages 433-456, December.
    4. Maria Clara Figueiredo Dalla Costa Ames & Mauricio Custódio Serafim, 2023. "Multiple Cases of Pro-life Volunteering in a Neo-Aristotelian Ethical Approach," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 27(Vol. 27 N), pages 210315-2103.

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