Institutions and Morality Policy in Western Democracies

This article investigates whether different political institutions such as executives, legislatures, parties, party systems, judiciaries, decentralization, constitutionalism, and referendums across 24 Western democracies are venues for debate across five individual morality policies. Using data since 1945, the article compares three theories of morality policy—(1) Policy Type leading to different institutional venues; (2) Two Worlds of religious/secular party systems; and (3) U.S./European exceptionalism. In order, the most frequently debated issues are abortion, same sex marriage, euthanasia, stem cells/assisted reproductive technology (ART), and capital punishment. There is considerable variation in the institutions and country groups that debate them although fewer differences in the Two Worlds model. Abortion, euthanasia, and same sex marriage are the most convergent issues across institutions, party systems, and country groupings while capital punishment and stem cells/ART show the most diverse patterns of deliberation. The general Policy Type model of morality policy is upheld, but varies institutionally by specific issues. The Two Worlds model is of some importance, but only on three issues. There also are regional differences between the United States, Europe, and non‐European democracies. 摘要 西方民主国家中的制度和道德政策 本文调查了24个西方民主国家的不同政治机构/体制（political institutions）是否能作为5个道德政策（morality policies）的辩论舞台。这些政治机构/体制包括行政部门、议会、党派、政党体系、司法部、政治分权（decentralization）、宪政和公民投票。通过使用1945年以来的数据, 本文比较了有关道德政策的三种理论 — （1）政策类型（Policy Type）, 该理论通往不同制度舞台；（2）道德政治的两个世界（Two Worlds）, 即宗教党派系统和世俗党派系统；（3）美国/欧洲例外论。按照排列顺序, 最频繁出现的辩论问题依次是堕胎、同性婚姻、安乐死、干细胞/辅助生殖技术（assisted reproductive technology, ART）和死刑。参与辩论的不同政治机构和国家集团存在显著差异, 尽管在第二种理论模式下差异之处较少。堕胎、安乐死和同性婚姻是不同机构、政党体系和国家集团间最趋同的问题, 而死刑和干细胞/ART则是最多样化的审议模式。第一种理论模式是受到支持的, 但在特定问题上存在制度性的变化。第二种理论模式具有一定的重要性, 但其重要性仅体现在三个问题上。美国、欧洲和非欧洲民主国家间也存在区域差异。 Resumen Política de instituciones y moralidad en las democracias occidentales Este artículo investiga si las diferentes instituciones políticas como la rama ejecutiva, la legislativa, los partidos, los sistemas de partidos, la rama judicial, la descentralización, el constitucionalismo y los referéndums en 24 democracias occidentales son escenarios para el debate en 5 diferentes políticas individuales de moralidad. Utilizando datos desde 1945, el artículo compara tres teorías de la política de la moralidad—(1) Tipo de Política que lleva a diferentes escenarios institucionales; (2) Dos Mundos de sistemas seculares/re