laicity
Laicity, or laïcité in the original French term, is the principle that the state remains neutral in matters of religion and that religious institutions should be separate from political power. It encompasses both the protection of freedom of conscience and the exclusion of religious influence from official policy and public institutions.
Historically, laicity emerges from Enlightenment critiques of church privilege and evolves through the French Revolution and
There are different implementations of laicity across countries. In some contexts, laicity stresses strict separation and
Policy areas frequently affected by laicity include education, civil service conduct, funding for religious organizations, and
Related concepts include secularism, secular state, and church–state separation.