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Lautsi vs. Italy: Questioning the Majoritarian Premise

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2015

Nahshon Perez
Nahshon Perez*
Affiliation:
Bar Ilan University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Nahshon Perez, Department of Political Studies, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. E-mail: nahshonp@gmail.com
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Abstract

in 2011, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) published its seminal decision in the Lautsi vs. Italy case, arguing that the requirement in Italian law that all public schools will display crucifixes in each classroom does not violate the European Convention on Human Rights. This decision gave rise to a storm of reactions. The goal of this article is to argue, that the ECHR used “majoritarianism” in an under-theorized way and/or unattractive way, and that this usage of the concept can be identified in other cases as well (see the highly controversial Dahlab vs. Swiss, ECHR). Demonstrating the procedural, monopoly based and circularity problems within the ECHR decision point to potential ways to criticize the court decision, without taking sides in the heated and highly divisive debate between so called “neutrality supporters” and (roughly) “endorsed church — majoritarian supporters,” sides of the debate surrounding “Lautsi.”

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , September 2015 , pp. 565 - 587
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2015 

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