The work of a religious representative in a democratic legislature: a case study of the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man in Tynwald, 1961-2001

Edge, Peter W. and Pearce, Augur 2004. The work of a religious representative in a democratic legislature: a case study of the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man in Tynwald, 1961-2001. Marburg Journal of Religion 9 (2) , pp. 1-42.

Preview

PDF - Published Version Download (363kB) | Preview

Abstract

The Isle of Man is a largely autonomous territory of the United Kingdom Crown, whose dominant constitutional body is the Tynwald. Tynwald, although meeting regularly as a single body, is for most purposes divided into two Branches – a directly elected House of Keys, and the Legislative Council. The latter includes among its members the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man. This study draws upon the legislative debates of Tynwald between 1961 and 2001 to examine the nature of the Bishop’s role. Analysis shows that the Bishop was expected to contribute to debate in two major areas – moral issues and technical issues concerning the Manx Church. Additionally, the Bishops operated within expectations as to their modes of contribution. The strongest of these was that the Bishop should not become entangled in party politics. There was also a strong expectation that the Bishop should represent the Manx Church and Christianity more generally, although this expectation does not seem to have been realised in relation to non-Christian religions. There is also evidence that the Bishop was also entitled to use both secular and religious modes of argumentation, and that he should not have expected to the be the only religious voice in Tynwald, or even the uncontested voice of the Manx Church.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Law
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General)
Publisher:	University of Marburg
ISSN:	1612-2941
Related URLs:	Publisher
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	06 May 2023 08:18
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/66655

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item