What do Constitutions say about religious freedom? More than you would think, and less than you would like!

Constitutions frequently affirm religious freedom, but their clauses often fail to translate into practice, making them unreliable indicators of actual religious freedom. However, their widespread inclusion highlights the global importance of religious freedom as a legitimizing principle. Using the RAS-Constitutions dataset from the Religion and State Project, this study examines constitutional provisions on religious freedom from 1990 to 2022, noting their increasing prevalence despite constitutional stability. Clauses such as official religion, separation of religion and state (SRAS), and general religious freedom show limited impact on reducing government (GRD) or societal religious discrimination (SRD). Instead, clauses prohibiting religious hate speech and safeguarding the right not to have a religion prove more consequential, particularly in contexts of anti-religious secularism, where they act as constitutional red flags. Additionally, constitutions in 13 Muslim-majority nations that base laws on religion impose significant restrictions. The findings underscore the need for a comprehensive approach to assess religious freedom, extending beyond constitutional analysis to include legislation, jurisprudence, and broader policies. This aligns with the goals of the International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF) and the Religion and State Project in developing the Global Religious Freedom Index, a multi-year initiative to holistically evaluate religious freedom worldwide.