Peter B. ANDERSEN

Ass. Prof., Department for Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen,

Denmark

peterba@hum.ku.dk

Peter LÜCHAU

PhD, Department for Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen,

Denmark

pluchau@hum.ku.dk

Religious and democratic values - not so much of a clash?

Based on a survey comprising about 2.000 young ethnic Danes and first generation migrants

from Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, this paper investigates the relation between democratic values

and various forms of authority and networks among the migrants.

The attitudes towards democracy will be investigated in regards to the circle of

acquaintances, religious belonging and religiosity.

It will be argued that religion has influence on democratic values and that the direction of

the influence by and large is the same whether the religion is Christianity or Islam. Ethnicity

and gender have, however, a large impact on the attitudes to democracy and authoritarian

forms of government.