Sectarian Discrimination in Local Councils and Myth-Making. Issue 4 (November 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bruce, Steve
• Is Part Of: Scottish affairs. Volume 23:Issue 4(2014)
• Page Start: 445
• Page End: 453
• Publication Date: 2014-11
• Subjects: Scotland -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; 320.941105
• DOI: 10.3366/scot.2014.0043
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0966-0356

Abstract

<abstract xml:lang="en"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>Scottish local authorities have been accused of sectarianism in hiring policies because the proportion of workers who declare their religion as Catholic falls below the Catholic proportion of the population as a whole. This rejoinder points out the methodological flaw of drawing conclusions from such incomplete data and presents an alternative way of interpreting the partial statistics. It also notes that, with the high proportion of Labour councillors who are Catholic and the Labour party's history of council control, such discrimination is highly unlikely. Finally, it draws on classic liberalism to defend workers' refusal to declare their religion.</p> </abstract>