Religious Freedom in Canada and the United States

Posted: 29 Feb 2008

See all articles by Christopher L. Eisgruber

Christopher L. Eisgruber

Princeton University - Program in Law & Public Policy

Mariah Zeisberg

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Political Science

Date Written: April 2006

Abstract

This article compares the constitutional treatment of religion in the United States and Canada in light of differing patterns of religious practice in the two countries. It focuses on two questions. First, to what extent might constitutional norms or constitutional structures have contributed to their differing levels of religiosity? Though the evidence is inconclusive, the article argues that there are several constitutional differences-including differences with regard to the disestablishment of religion and the fragmentation of political authority into multiple jurisdictions-that might have affected levels of religiosity significantly. Second, to what extent have the religious differences between the two countries produced different constitutional norms of religious freedom? The article argues that, in general, the religious freedom jurisprudence of the two countries is surprisingly convergent, but there is one important difference: the idea of a "strict separation of church and state" pursuant to which any state support for religion or any state entanglement with religion is unconstitutional, has great power in the United States but little in Canada. Discrepancies between Canadian and American religious history have undoubtedly contributed to this difference.

Suggested Citation

Eisgruber, Christopher L. and Zeisberg, Mariah, Religious Freedom in Canada and the United States (April 2006). International Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 244-268, 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=914991 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icon/mol004

Christopher L. Eisgruber (Contact Author)

Princeton University - Program in Law & Public Policy ( email )

Wallace Hall
Princeton, NJ 08544
United States
609-258-6949 (Phone)
609-258-0922 (Fax)

Mariah Zeisberg

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Political Science ( email )

Ann Arbor, MI 48109
United States

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