Religious legitimation of policy is usually studied only as social-sphere activism.

Evidence

When religion is discussed as a force of legitimating social power, it has often been assumed that it does so as “a sphere of activity where efforts are deliberately made to influence, manipulate, and control people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions in accordance with various religious values” (Beckford 2017, 58) but in the social and not official sphere by religious groups. The direct actions of religious groups, particularly among the religious right, point to another way of political influence. This is done through political activities such as lobbying, legislative efforts, intervention in public discourse, and so on. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 87

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s existing scaffold on moral panics, where extra-state moral entrepreneurs manufacture deviance and drive official legislation. — connects to: Religious fusion with nationalism matters only when it legitimizes state governance. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 75; Only a subset of states fuse religion into nationalism to legitimize policy. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 76; Religion as political legitimation functions regardless of actors’ actual religiosity — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 103 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Legitimation becomes an object of study only when questioned #expands (0.82) — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, 30
• Religion as political legitimation functions regardless of actors’ actual religiosity #expands (0.78) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 103