Democracy and denomination: democratic values among Muslim minorities and the majority population in Denmark

Abstract

Based on a survey of ethnic minorities (immigrants as well as descendants) and the ethnic majority, this article analyses the distribution and explanation of democratic values in Denmark. Democratic values are measured according to three criteria: democratic principles, democratic rights and family democracy. With respect to democratic rights, the analysis shows that Muslim immigrants and descendants score slightly lower on democratic principles and family democracy; however, they have more democratic values than the majority of the populations in Western Europe. Democratic values do not differ between immigrants and descendants of the same ethnic group, and differences in values do not depend on immigrants' length of stay in the host society. Finally, among ethnic minorities of mixed religious composition, the differences between the Muslim parts of these groups are larger than the differences between ethnic groups. Thus, differences in democratic values are explained by ethnicity, not religion.

Keywords:

• Immigrants
• Islam
• survey data
• national identity
• Denmark
• democracy