Les Adherents d'Ecolo et le rapport au catholisme

In: Res publica: politiek-wetenschappelijk tijdschrift van de Lage Landen ; driemaandelijks tijdschrift, Band 39, Heft 3, S. 439-456

Abstract

Evaluates the extent to which the Walloon (French-speaking) Belgian environmental party, Ecolo, can be viewed as a Catholic party, using questionnaire data from a representative sample of 1,459 party members. The members' sociological & political profiles in different regions of Wallonia were constructed by analyzing relationships between respondents' indications of religious background & beliefs, frequency of religious practice, education level, length of party membership, membership of nonreligious organizations, educational background (confessional or nonconfessional), signature of schools visited by children (where applicable), regularly read national & regional newspapers, membership in trade unions, & previous membership in & preference for other political parties. It was found that Ecolo is not a Catholic party nor any kind of religious party; even its Catholic members tend to not identify with Roman Catholic dogmas & traditional church hierarchies. It was further found that, although relationships between religiosity, education preferences, other party membership, & education level were somewhat predictable, no stereotypical Ecolo member exists. 22 Tables. Adapted from the source document.