Religious identity and political culture: representations of democracy by the Pentecostal faithful in Benin

Abstract

Adopting as framework for its analysis the expansion of the Pentecostal  movements in Benin in the context  of the democratisation of that country, this article is interested in the effect of religious affiliation on the political culture of the converted, especially on the representations of democracy elaborated by the believers. Based on interviews with converted béninois, it shows that their conceptions of politics are in part conditioned by their religious affiliation, emphasizing however that democracy as seen by them corresponds to principles they value and to contrasting representations. If it is true that Pentecostal  affiliation does not appear to constitute an obstacle to the acceptance of democratic principles and mechanisms, the reason lies in the fact that this religious socialisation can contribute to the internalisation of the new political norms: because it offers an interpretation grid for the political transformations, and because it may, paradoxically, reveal affinities with the logics that guide the formation  of a democratic public space.