Abstract

The article is divided into two parts. First, it proposes a political interpretation of the idea of secularism. It focuses on the connections between the secular denotation of institutions and the democratic nature of the political regime. The author clarifies in what sense at the basis of such connections lies an interpretation of democratic freedom as the freedom of persons to identify themselves with a variety of collective spheres of recognition. Second, the political interpretation of secularism is tested against some challenges encountered within certain democratic societies. This test is carried out on consideration both of the type of claims addressed to political and religious leaders, and of the public discourses and measures such leaders have offered as a response. The article concludes that the future of secularism coincides, for better or worse, with that of democracy as a political regime.