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Freedom of Religion or Belief, or FoRB, provides for autonomy of religious communities, including freedom to organise themselves, to train their leadership, and to educate their members, without government interference. Tensions between the tenets of the religious community and the wider society are inevitable. In this article, we justify religious autonomy through three lenses: transactional, traditional FoRB, and minorities. If people are free to join and leave the community, religious autonomy should prevail. We then analyse European cases that illustrate the tension between religious autonomy and non-discrimination.

The proposed paper will analyze the democratic political systems of Central American countries. After an initial theoretical reflection about the concepts of representation and representativeness in Central America, the paper will discuss the "perliementenretion" (or parliamentary tendencies) of the presidential systems of this subcontinent leading to an increasing compatibility between executive and legislative powers. The next section will make a more in depth comparative analysis of Central American perliements, focusing on the institutional position of the legislative assemblies and will refer to variables as political control mechanisms, agenda setting powers, minority rights and the effectiveness of the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary opposition. Finally the paper will present a comprehensive mapping of the veto players in the political systems in these Central American countries.Realidad: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades No. 118, 2008: 563-586 ; El presente ensayo analizará los sistemas políticos democráticos de los países centroamericanos. Después de hacer una reflexión teórica inicial acerca de los conceptos de representación y representatividad en el área, se discutirá la "parlamentación" (o las tendencias parlamentarias de los sistemas presidenciales del subcontinente, los cuales conducen a una creciente compatibilidad entre los poderes ejecutivos y legislativos. La siguiente sección hará un análisis más en profundidad de los parlamentos centroamericanos, enfocándose en la posición institucional de las asambleas legislativas y se referirá a variables tales como los mecanismos de control político, los poderes que crean las agendas, los derechos de las minorías y la afectividad de la oposición parlamentaria y extraparlamentaria. Finalmente, el texto presentará un mapeo exhaustivo de los actores que utilizaran el veto en los sistemas políticos centroamericanos.Realidad: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades No. 118, 2008: 563-586

Combines empirical data and original analysis to offer a uniquely detailed account of Christianity in Western and Northern EuropeDedicates 18 chapters to Christianity in all of the countries of Western and Northern Europe, from the three large countries of Germany, France and the UK to the smaller territories of Liechtenstein, Monaco and the Faroe Islands, with attractive presentations of statistical and demographic informationLooks at each of the major denominations in turn, from Anglicans to Orthodox and from Protestants to Pentecostals Explores key themes as they relate to the region such as faith and culture, secularisation, theology, gender, inter-religious relations, diaspora churches and the European UnionWritten by local scholars with expertise in their fieldAlthough the origins of Christianity lie in the Near East, Europe and Christianity have an exceptional relationship, since most Europeans perceive Christianity as a Western – more precisely, as a European – religion. The region has seen rapid social change in the 21st century, set off by factors including energy crisis and environmental awareness, poverty and exclusion, falling birthrates and increased migration, changing attitudes to sexuality, gender and family life, and challenges to Europe's idea of itself and place in the global order. Amidst all this flux, this volume focuses on one particular issue: the rapidly changing profile of the Christian faith that has shaped the life of the European continent for a millennium and more.At a time when patterns of Christian life and worship appear to be dying out, yet traces of new life are also appearing, this volume maps out the current reality of Christianity in Western and Northern Europe with all its questions and uncertainties