Religion and the City: Local Governments as the Flag Holders of the Freedom from Religion in Israel - Talk with Dr. Niva Golan-Nadir

Please join the Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 12:00 PM for a talk with Dr. Niva Golan-Nadir.

About the talk
Under what circumstances does local government responsiveness to residents' preferences surpass central government accountability for public preferences in democracies? This study hypothesizes that: (1) a national-level service gap due to institutional constraints, leading to (2) societal dissatisfaction reflected in public opinion, and (3) local politicians seeking re-election, prompt local governments to prioritize public preferences.

The study further argues that local governments’ responsiveness is driven by the mayor’s personal ideology, the desire to enhance democratic values, and, most prominently, the pursuit of political advantage. Using a mixed-method design, the study examines the mechanisms behind local initiatives to circumvent national policy restrictions on three religion-based policies in Israel.

About the speaker
Dr. Niva Golan-Nadir is a research associate at the Center for Policy Research, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at SUNY, Albany, and a research fellow at the Institute for Liberty and Responsibility at Reichman University, Israel, where she also teaches Comparative Politics and Research Methodology. In 2024-2025, she is a visiting scholar at NYU's Taub Center for Israel Studies.

Her research focuses on Comparative Politics, with a special interest in Israel and Turkey, State-Religion Relations, Israel Studies and Public Administration. She explores persistent gaps between public preferences, policy design, and implementation.

Her latest book, Public Preferences and Institutional Designs: Israel and Turkey Compared (2022, Palgrave Macmillan), was awarded final list and honorary mention by the Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies and Concordia University Library.