100 Roger Finke and Rodney Stark
When comparing the old and new paradigms, the contrasts are many. Rather than
treating religion as an epiphenomenon, where the “real” causes of religious phenomena
must be uncovered, the new paradigm accepts that religious doctrines per se can have
consequences. Whereas the old paradigm was content to identify religion as the opium
of the people, the new paradigm notes that religion is also often the “amphetamine”
of the people, in that it was religion that animated many medieval peasant and ar-
tisan rebellions (Cohn 1961), generated repeated uprisings among the native peoples
of Africa and North America against European encroachment (Wilson 1975), and re-
cently served as a major center of mobilization against the tyrants of Eastern Europe
(Echikson 1990). Instead of attributing religious decisions to unique or irrational cog-
nitive processes, the new paradigm views religious decision making as compatible with
rational, instrumental, and scientific thinking (Wuthnow 1985; Stark and Bainbridge
1987; Stark, Iannaccone, and Finke 1996). And, contrary to the old paradigm’s confi-
dence in the superiority of monopoly faiths supported by the state, the new paradigm
argues that deregulating religion and increasing competition will spur religious activity.
Finally, rather than attempting to explain how modernity causes an inevitable decline
in thedemandfor religion, the new paradigm attempts to explain religious variation by
looking at thesupplyof religion.
In the remainder of this chapter, we will review how a few propositions on religious
economies can help to explain variation and change in religion. We then apply these
propositions to three international settings.
RELIGIOUS ECONOMIES AND SUPPLY-SIDE CHANGES
Within all social systems there is a relatively distinct subsystem encompassing religious
activity (Stark 1985). We identify this subsystem as a religious economy and define the
religious economy asconsisting of all the religious activity going on in any society, including
a “market” of current and potential adherents, a set of one or more organizations seeking to
attract or maintain adherents, and the religious culture offered by the organization(s). Just
as a commercial economy can be distinguished into elements of supply and demand,
so, too, can a religious economy. Indeed, it is the emphasis on the supply side that so
distinguishes the new from the old paradigm, for the latter has stressed demand as the
primary dynamic propelling religious change. Whereas the old paradigm argued that
the forces of modernity reduced the demand for religion, the new paradigm argues that
the structure of the religious market can alter the supply of religion.
Regulating Religion
The most significant feature of a religious economy is the degree to which it is deregu-
lated and therefore market-driven as opposed to being regulated by the state in favor
of monopoly. The most immediate impact of regulation is on the supply of religions
available to people, and the peoples’ freedom to choose any of the available religions.
This leads to our first proposition on religious supply.
#1: To the degree that a religious economy is unregulated, it will tend to be very plu-
ralistic.Because religious markets are composed of multiple segments or niches, with
each sharing particular religious preferences (needs, tastes, and expectations), no single