From Politics to the Pews

How Partisanship and the Political Environment Shape Religious Identity

Michele F. Margolis

• Éditeur: University of Chicago Press
• Année: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780226555812
• Sujet: Politics & International Relations
• Sous-sujet: Politics

One of the most substantial divides in American politics is the "God gap." Religious voters tend to identify with and support the Republican Party, while secular voters generally support the Democratic Party. Conventional wisdom suggests that religious differences between Republicans and Democrats have produced this gap, with voters sorting themselves into the party that best represents their religious views.Michele F. Margolis offers a bold challenge to the conventional wisdom, arguing that the relationship between religion and politics is far from a one-way street that starts in the church and ends at the ballot box. Margolis contends that political identity has a profound effect on social identity, including religion. Whether a person chooses to identify as religious and the extent of their involvement in a religious community are, in part, a response to political surroundings. In today's climate of political polarization, partisan actors also help reinforce the relationship between religion and politics, as Democratic and Republican elites stake out divergent positions on moral issues and use religious faith to varying degrees when reaching out to voters.

Appendix

Youth-Parent Socialization Panel

Table A.1 1965–1973: Republicans and Democrats did not diverge in church attendance
	1973 church attendance
	(1)	(2)	(3)
1965 partisanship
Republican	−0.02	−0.01	0.02
	(0.04)	(0.04)	(0.05)
Independent	−0.07*	−0.07*	−0.04
	(0.04)	(0.04)	(0.04)
1965 church attendance
A few times a year	0.13	0.14*	0.13
	(0.09)	(0.08)	(0.10)
Once or twice a month	0.19**	0.19**	0.12
	(0.09)	(0.09)	(0.10)
Almost every week	0.42**	0.42**	0.29**
	(0.08)	(0.08)	(0.10)
Intercept	0.21**	0.13	0.07
	(0.08)	(0.10)	(0.11)
Demographic controls	No	Yes	Yes
Upbringing controls	No	No	Yes
N	558	558	558

Source: Youth-Parent Socialization Panel Study.

Note: Estimates are OLS coefficients with clustered standard errors in parentheses. The dependent variable of 1973 church attendance ...