Neutral State Creates Moral Vacuum

When the state treats public life as neutral among competing conceptions of the good, it can empty the public square of moral language and belonging, opening space for narrower, intolerant moral projects to occupy civic meaning. That vacancy is politically consequential: parties that supply a compelling moral grammar (e.g., family, faith, nation) gain mobilization advantage. — If true, debates about neutrality vs. substantive civic meaning reshape party strategy, constitutional norms, and how democracies respond to polarization.