Reversing the Causal Arrow: Politics' Influence on Religious Choices
Decades of research has explored the political consequences of religious identities, practices, and beliefs. This article describes new research that has reversed the causal arrow to look at the religious consequences of partisanship and political outlooks. The first part of the article describes th...
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| Published in: | Political psychology 2022-11, Vol.43 (S1), p.261-290 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Decades of research has explored the political consequences of religious identities, practices, and beliefs. This article describes new research that has reversed the causal arrow to look at the religious consequences of partisanship and political outlooks. The first part of the article describes the current religious‐political landscape, in which religious Americans are more likely to be Republicans and less religious Americans are more likely to be Democrats. The article then goes on to introduce key theories and findings explaining how politics helped produce this religiosity gap. After discussing avenues for future research in this area, the article switches gears to describe other ways politics can shape religious choices, including pushing evangelical Republicans out of churches and encouraging short‐term fluctuations in religious engagement. The article concludes with a brief discussion of how the study of religion and politics is fundamentally different on account of politics' ability to both shape and be shaped by religion. |
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| ISSN: | 0162-895X 1467-9221 |