John Loughlin , Cardiff University, Wales

My inquiry will explore the links between Religion and Politics in Europe from the period of the Reformation until the present day. The first phase of my research, to be carried out in Princeton, will examine how the distinctive theological traditions of Catholicism, Lutheranism, Anglicanism and the different strands of the Reformed churches, influenced the ‘shape’ (whether it became centralized, decentralized, federal, etc.) of the modern state between the 16th and early 19th centuries. This arises out of my previous work on European state traditions and territorial governance. I will also examine relations between the contemporary state and religious groups through a survey of how constitutions and legislation recognizes them. This will include the position with regard to the European Union. Finally, I will examine how this affects the delivery of a number of public services by faith groups.

John Loughlin is Professor of Politics at Cardiff University and a member of St Antony’s College, Oxford.  He studied theology at Our Lady of Bethlehem (Trappist) Abbey in Ireland (1968-74). His PhD in Political and Social Sciences is from the European University Institute, Florence (1987). He was Senior Lecturer at the University of Ulster and Associate Professor in Public Administration at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. He has held visiting positions at universities in Oxford, France, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Spain and Canada. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, of the Royal Historical Society, of the UK’s Academy of Social Sciences, was a Fellow of the Royal Flemish Society of Belgium for Arts & Sciences, and has an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor Honoris Causae) from the University of Umea, Sweden. He has researched widely on territorial governance and was an expert in regional and local democracy for the UK government, UH-Habitat, the EU and the Council of Europe. In 2009 he was auditioned by the French Senate on reforms of French local and regional government. Among his recent books are Subnational Government: the French Experience (Palgrave, 2007), Albania and the European Union (Tauris, 2007), Spanish Political Parties, (Univ of Wales Press, 2006), Culture, Institutions and Regional Development, (Elgar, 2003), La décentralisation dans les pays de l’Union Européenne, (2003); Subnational Democracy in the European Union, OUP, 2001; (edited with C. Olivesi), Autonomies Insulaires: vers une politique de différence pour la Corse, (1999). He has published numerous articles and chapters in books.