Buddhism’s links to national identity in these countries matches the role of Islam in the neighboring Muslim-majority countries of Indonesia and Malaysia, the survey found. Muslims in Malaysia, where Islam is the official religion, support using sharia as the national law (86%). That figure reaches 64% when it was asked of Indonesian Muslims.

Indonesia, which consists of 17,000 islands, is the most populous Muslim-majority country with approximately 231 million adherents.

These perceptions have deep cultural and political ties. Under Cambodia’s constitution, for example, Buddhism is the national religion and the state is required to support Buddhist schools. Sri Lanka’s current constitution guarantees Buddhism “the foremost place” and assigns the government responsibility “to protect and foster” it.

Buddhism — also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya —is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha.

According to the Pew survey, most Buddhists in all three countries “favor basing their national laws on Buddhist dharma — a wide-ranging concept that includes the knowledge, doctrines and practices stemming from Buddha’s teachings.”

This perspective is nearly unanimous among Cambodian Buddhists (96%), while smaller majorities of Buddhists in Sri Lanka (80%) and Thailand (56%) support laws based on Buddhist teachings.

Asked about the role of religious leaders in public life, Cambodian Buddhists stood out as the most likely to favor a connection between religion and politics: 81% of them saying religious leaders should vote in political elections.

In contrast, smaller proportions of Buddhists in Sri Lanka (66%) and Thailand (54%). The Thai constitution bans Buddhist monks, novices and priests from casting ballots in elections.