Laicity of the State: Analytical-conceptual dimensions and their normative structures of operation

Abstract

The objective of this article is to present analysis of the different patterns and meanings of the concept of laicity as the guiding political principle of western democracies, aimed at ensuring and establishing parameters of coexistence between dissenting moral convictions in contemporary societies. To that end, a definition of laicity is elaborated based on both its conceptual and historical assumptions and its normative dimensions of operation. Then, the differences between secularism and laicity are made clear, since terminological and analytical matters tend to blend these phenomena and concepts that in a way act on the same sphere, however being distinct. Finally, a conceptual analysis of the two main theoretical strands is proposed, by exploring their peculiarities and approximations, especially in the establishment of an intrinsic link between democracy and the secular State.