Scaling the wall between religion and state: Religious party behavior in Israel

The objective of this study is to determine how small parties effectively influence policy decision-making and policy outcomes in parliamentary systems. A secondary objective of the research is designed to determine how proportional representation can affect which groups of voters get the outcome they want.; In focusing on the Israeli religious parties as a case study, the dissertation research investigates specifically how religious political parties use democratic institutions to their advantage. Political demands made by religious parties generally focus on matters of religious law and personal status, yet many involve themselves in civil law and state affairs. The issue for Israel, as for other modern democracies, is retaining the integrity of democratic access to power while impeding one group from imposing its demands on the majority. The issue for the religious parties is to what extent religious law should permeate modern democratic states.; I explore how the religious parties draw policy concessions from secular governments. In relying on a system which safeguards minority powers, the religious parties use issues to manipulate the tone and content of political debate. In so doing, they shift campaign rhetoric toward their chosen issues and force the leading party to address their demands via the government's legislative agenda. I rely on an amalgam of rational choice, party, and agenda setting theories as tools to build a useful explanation of religious party behavior.