Institutional opportunity structures and the Catholic Church: explaining variation in the regulation of same-sex partnerships in Ireland and Italy

Abstract:

Over recent decades, factors such as religion and, specifically, Catholicism have emerged as key variables in the explanation of policy outputs and dynamics with regard to so-called morality issues. However, the standard theoretical arguments do not capture the whole story, as a comparison of same-sex partnership policies in Italy and Ireland shows. Based on existing approaches, we would not have expected that the more religious Ireland would move faster than Italy in adopting an act recognizing homosexual couples in social, tax and inheritance law. A closer examination of the policy process in the two countries reveals that the success and duration of decision-making in morality policies is affected by the institutional opportunity structures of the political system. They define the scope conditions for the Catholic Church to act as veto power and determine the government's policy style for resolving value conflicts.