tendencies of any particular policy, which has led to great emphasis being put
onflexible response, as a replacement of the old idea ofmassive retaliation.
Established Church
Established churches are religious denominations which are given special legal
rights and protection by thestate, but are also to some extent controlled by the
state. The usual example taken is the established church in England, which is
the Anglican church, formally called the Church of England. The very fact that
this title tells nothing at all about its theology or organization (it is, in fact,
strictly speaking, Catholic and Episcopalian) but concentrates entirely on the
geographical/political identity demonstrates the nature of established churches
quite clearly. The state is directly involved in running the Church of England,
with appointments to bishoprics being made by the prime minister, with the
monarch officially the head of the church, and with legislation from the
General Synod (for example, introducing women priests in 1992) requiring
enactment by parliament and the monarch.
These facts have a perfectly natural political explanation arising from the
political context of the Church of England’s foundation in Tudor England and
the subsequent Civil War and revolution of 1688, which led to a firm belief
that religious orthodoxy was necessary for political stability, a point accepted
by political theorists as different asHobbesandRousseau. However, the
establishment of a religion has equally been seen as highly illiberal, and was one
of the first things to be forbidden by the US Constitution, in the First
Amendment (1791). This was quite probably influenced byLocke’sLetter
on Toleration(1689); the English philosopher’s liberal principles and opposition
to strong state power were generally influential in the drafting of the constitu-
tion.
Most codes of civil rights today mention freedom of religious persuasion,
and while the establishment of one church does not preclude others, it can be
seen as unduly favouring one denomination over others. Certainly a strong
minority of priests and lay people in the Church of England feel uneasy and
would prefer the Church to be disestablished, as it was in Scotland (in 1689),
Ireland (1869) and Wales (1920). It may be quite unconnected, but much
research in the sociology of religion has begun to show that competitive
churches do better at fending off secularization than do established and
therefore non-competitive religious institutions. England is by no means alone
in having an established church—the Scandinavian countries have established
Lutheranism, and indeed ministers there are actually paid by the state as civil
servants, while orthodox Christianity of all denominations has a semi-estab-
lished place in Germany, where the state assists them by levying a (voluntary)
tax on their congregations. In practice it is not the formally established
Established Church