Overview
- Broadens the current post-Obergefell discussion of employee religious accommodation to consider the third-party impacts on public administration
- Illuminates the myriad legal and supervisory challenges of implementing expanded religion accommodation obligations for public employees
- Serves as a warning to legislators and policy advocates seeking to enlarge religious accommodation rights
Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy (PSRPP)
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About this book
In the wake of same-sex marriage legalization, most religious conservatives realize that they now share a minority viewpoint on many social issues. Such change has forced those formerly trying to forestall social evolution to instead seek legal recusal from engaging in matters that conflict with their religious beliefs. Not surprisingly, these recent legislative attempts to “affirm” religious free expression all focus upon the rights of the religious adherent, while mostly failing to consider the potential harm to third parties. In the provision of government services, this omission can do significant, lasting damage to public perceptions of administrative legitimacy—often already perilously maligned. Should government officials be legally obligated to grant their employees religious accommodations that they know will result in negative public perceptions, or worse, inflict dignitary harm among citizens seeking its services? This book draws attention to the threat to effective government that proposed expansions to religious accommodation laws can create. From damaging public opinion, to the myriad implementation concerns such as what even constitutes a religious belief to be accommodated, these challenges should serve as a warning to legislators and religious accommodation advocates to reconsider application of these enhanced obligations to the civil service.
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Keywords
Table of contents (9 chapters)
Reviews
“In the aftermath of Obergefell v. Hodges many states and localities have passed broad and sweeping laws to allow religious conservatives to refuse service to LGBT customers. This excellent study invites us to consider the harm that these statutes inflict. Highly recommended.” (Clyde Wilcox, Professor of Government, Georgetown University, USA)
“In this carefully crafted and thoroughly researched book, Szymalak analyzes the relationship between religious freedom and public policy [and] makes an important contribution to our understanding of the appropriate balance.” (James P. Pfiffner, University Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
James N. Szymalak is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, USA. Prior to this, he served as a senior personnel policy legal advisor to the Headquarters, US Department of the Army.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Expanding Public Employee Religious Accommodation and Its Threat to Administrative Legitimacy
Authors: James N. Szymalak
Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97831-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-97830-7Published: 02 October 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-07412-8Published: 03 January 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-97831-4Published: 20 September 2018
Series ISSN: 2731-6769
Series E-ISSN: 2731-6777
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VII, 193
Topics: Public Policy, Politics and Religion, Public Administration