Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T17:50:54.608Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Beyond the “Three Bs”: How American Christians Approach Faith and Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2012

Amanda Friesen*
Affiliation:
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Michael W. Wagner*
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Amanda Friesen, Department of Political Science, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 504 Cavanaugh Hall, 425 University Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46202. E-mail: [email protected]; or Michael W. Wagner, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 5046 Vilas Hall, 821 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706. E-mail: [email protected]
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Amanda Friesen, Department of Political Science, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 504 Cavanaugh Hall, 425 University Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46202. E-mail: [email protected]; or Michael W. Wagner, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 5046 Vilas Hall, 821 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

While it is well-known that religiosity measures inform modern political alignments and voting behavior, less is known about how people of various religious orthodoxies think about the role of religion in society. To learn more about this veritable “black box” with respect to whether and why people connect their spiritual life to the political world, we conducted several focus groups in randomly selected Christian congregations in a mid-sized Midwestern city. Our analysis offers confirmatory, amplifying, and challenging evidence with respect to the “Three Bs” (believing, behaving, and belonging) perspective on how religion affects politics. Specifically, we show that while contemporary measures of religious traditionalism accurately reflect individuals’ partisan, ideological, and issue preferences, attitudes regarding the broad intersection of faith and politics are perhaps best understood via the presence (or absence) of denominational guidance on questions of the role of religion in society. We conclude by offering suggestions for future survey research seeking to explain the relationship between religion and politics.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adams, Greg D. 1997. “Abortion: Evidence of an Issue Evolution.” American Journal of Political Science 41:718737.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alford, John R., and Hibbing, John R.. 2007. “Personal, Interpersonal, and Political Temperaments.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences 614:196212.Google Scholar
Berelson, Bernard R., Lazarsfeld, Paul R., and McPhee, William N.. 1954. Voting: A Study of Opinion Formation in a Presidential Campaign. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Brady, Henry E., and Collier, David. 2004. Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards. Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar
Brady, Henry E., Collier, David, and Seawright, Jason. 2004. “Refocusing the Discussion of Methodology,” In Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards, eds. Brady, Henry E., and Collier, David. Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar
Campbell, David E. 2002. “The Young and the Realigning: A Test of the Socialization Theory of Realignment.” Public Opinion Quarterly 66:209234.Google Scholar
Campbell, David E., ed. 2007. A Matter of Faith: Religion in the 2004 Presidential Election. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Carmines, Edward G., and Layman, Geoffrey C.. 1997. “Issue Evolution in Postwar American Politics: Old Certainties and Fresh Tensions.” In Present Discontents: American Politics in the Very Late Twentieth Century, ed. Shafer, Byron E.Chatham, NJ: Chatham House Publishers.Google Scholar
Carmines, Edward G., and Stimson, James A.. 1989. Issue Evolution: Race and the Transformation of American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carmines, Edward G., and Wagner, Michael W.. 2006. “Political Issues and Partisan Alignments: Assessing the Issue Evolution Perspective.” Annual Review of Political Science 9:6791.Google Scholar
Carmines, Edward G., and Zeller, Richard A.. 1979. Reliability and Validity Assessment. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Creswell, John W. 2008. Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Creswell, John W. 2003. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Collier, David, Brady, Henry E., and Seawright, Jason. 2004. “Critiques, Responses, and Trade-Offs: Drawing Together the Debate.” In Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards, eds. Brady, Henry E., and Collier, David. Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar
Davis, Nancy, and Robinson, Robert. 1996. “Are the Rumors of War Exaggerated? Religious Orthodoxy and Moral Progressivism in America.” American Journal of Sociology 102:756787.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Gilbert, Christopher P.. 2009. The Political Influence of Churches. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Gilbert, Christopher P.. 2006. “The Resourceful Believer: Generating Civic Skills in Church.” Journal of Politics 68:116127.Google Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Olson, Laura R.. n.d. “Religious Liberalism in a Gay Rights Debate: Commitment to Deliberative Values and Practice in ELCA Congregations.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Finke, Roger. 2004. “Innovative Returns to Tradition: Using Core Teachings as the Foundation for Innovative Accommodation.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43:1934.Google Scholar
Froese, Paul, and Bader, Christopher D.. 2007. “God in America: Why Theology is Not Simply the Concern of Philosophers.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 46:465481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gamson, William A. 1992. Talking Politics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Guth, James L., Green, John C., Smidt, Corwin E., and Kellstedt, Lyman A.. 1997. The Bully Pulpit: The Politics of Protestant Clergy. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
Hunter, James Davison. 1991. Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Huckfeldt, Robert, Johnson, Paul E., and Sprague, John. 2004. Political Disagreement: The Survival of Diverse Opinions within Communication Networks. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, James D. 1991. Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Jelen, Ted G. 2010. To Serve God and Mammon: Church-State Relations in American Politics. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Jelen, Ted G. 1992. “Political Christianity: A Contextual Analysis.” American Journal of Political Science 36:692714.Google Scholar
Jelen, Ted G. 1991. The Political Mobilization of Religious Beliefs. New York, NY: Praeger.Google Scholar
Jelen, Ted G. 1989. “Biblical Literalism and Inerrancy: Does the Difference Make a Difference?Sociological Analysis 49:421429.Google Scholar
Kellstedt, Lyman A., and Green, John C.. 1993. “Knowing God's Many People: Denominational Preference and Political Behavior.” In Rediscovering the Religious Factor in American Politics, eds. Leege, David C., and Kellstedt, Lyman A.. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
King, Gary, Keohane, Robert O., and Verba, Sidney. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
King, Gary, Keohane, Robert O., and Verba, Sidney. 1995. “The Importance of Research Design in Political Science.” American Political Science Review 89:475480.Google Scholar
Kleppner, Paul. 1987. Continuity and Change in Electoral Politics, 1893–1928. New York, NY: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Krueger, Richard A. 1988. Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Lane, Robert E. 1962. Political Ideology: Why the American Common Man Believes What He Does. New York, NY: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Layman, Geoffrey C. 2001. The Great Divide: Religious and Cultural Conflict in American Party Politics. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Leege, David C., Wald, Kenneth D., and Kellstedt, Lyman A.. 1993. “The Public Dimension of Private Devotionalism.” In Rediscovering the Religious Factor in American Politics, eds. Leege, David C., and Kellstedt, Lyman A.. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Leege, David C., Wald, Kenneth D., Krueger, Brian S., and Mueller, Paul D.. 2002. The Politics of Cultural Differences: Social Change and Voter Mobilization Strategies in the Post-New Deal Period. Princeton, NY: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
McTague, John M., and Layman, Geoffrey. 2009. “Religion, Parties, and Voting Behavior: A Political Explanation of Religious Influence.” In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Politics, eds. Smidt, Corwin E., Kellstedt, Lyman A., and Guth, James L.. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 330370.Google Scholar
Mockabee, Stephen T., Monson, Joseph Quin, and Grant, J. Tobin. 2001. “Measuring Religious Commitment among Catholics and Protestants: A New Approach.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40:675690.Google Scholar
Mockabee, Stephen T., Wald, Kenneth D., and Leege, David C.. Forthcoming. “In Search of the Religious Left: Re-examining Religiosity.” In The American National Election Studies Book of Ideas, eds. Aldrich, John, and McGraw, Kathleen. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Morgan, David L. 1996. “Focus Groups.” Annual Review of Sociology 22:129152.Google Scholar
Morgan, David L. 1988. Focus Groups as Qualitative Research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 2001. “Faith-Based Funding Backed, but Church-State Doubts Abound.” http://www.people-press.org/2001/04/10/faith-based-funding-backed-but-church-state-doubts-abound (Accessed on June 25, 2012).Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D., and Campbell, David E.. 2010. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Saint-Germain, Michelle A., Bassford, Tamsen L., and Montano, Gail. 1993. “Surveys and Focus Groups in Health Research.” Qualitative Health Research 3:341367.Google Scholar
Smidt, Corwin E., den Dulk, Kevin R., Froehle, Bryan T., Penning, James M., Monsma, Stephen V., and Koopman, Douglas L.. 2010. The Disappearing God Gap? Religion in the 2008 Presidential Election. Oxford, UK: Oxford University, Press.Google Scholar
Smidt, Corwin E., Kellstedt, Lyman A., and Guth, James L.. 2009. “The Role of Religion in American Politics: Explanatory Theories and Associated Analytical and Measurement Issues.” In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Politics, eds. Smidt, Corwin E., Kellstedt, Lyman A., and Guth, James L.. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 342.Google Scholar
Smidt, Corwin E., and Penning, James M.. 1991. “Religious Self-Identification and Support for Robertson: An Analysis of Delegates to the 1988 Michigan Republican State Convention.” Review of Religious Research 32:321336.Google Scholar
Smith, Christian, Emerson, M., Gallagher, S., Kennedy, P., and Sikkink, D.. 1998. American Evangelicals: Embattled and Thriving. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Smith, Tom W. 1990. “Classifying Protestant Denominations.” Review of Religious Research 31:225245.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul M., and Bullock, John. 2004. “A Consistency Theory of Public Opinion and Political Choice: The Hypothesis of Menu Dependence” In Studies in Public Opinion, eds. Saris, Willem E., and Sniderman, Paul M.. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul M., and Theriault, Sean M.. 2004. “The Structure of Political Argument and the Logic of Issue Framing.” In Studies in Public Opinion, eds. Saris, Willem E., and Sniderman, Paul M.. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Stark, Rodney, and Glock, Charles. 1968. American Piety: The Nature of Religious Commitment. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Steensland, Brian, Park, Jerry Z., Rengerus, Mark D., Robinson, Lynn D., Wilcox, W. Bradford, and Woodberry, Robert D.. 2000. “The Measure of American Religion: Toward Improving the State of the Art.” Social Forces 79:291324.Google Scholar
Stewart, David W., and Shamdasani, Prem N.. 1990. Focus Groups: Theory and Practice. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass R. 2009. Going to Extremes: How Like Minds Unite and Divide Us. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass R. 2007. Republic 2.0: Revenge of the Blogs. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Szelenyi, Katalin, Bryant, Alyssa N., and Lindholm, Jennifer A.. 2005. “What Money Can Buy: Examining the Effects of Prepaid Monetary Incentives on Survey Response Rates Among College Students.” Educational Research and Education 11:385404.Google Scholar
Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth. 1993. “Conceptualizations of Good Citizenship and Political Participation.” Political Behavior 15:355380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verba, Sidney, Schlozman, Kay Lehman, and Brady, Henry E.. 1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wald, Kenneth D., and Calhoun-Brown, Allison. 2007. Religion and American Politics in the United States, Fifth Edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Wilcox, Clyde. 1990. “Religion and Politics among White Evangelicals: The Impact of Religious Variables on Political Attitudes. Review of Religious Research 32:2742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilcox, Clyde. 1993. “The Dimensionality of Public Attitudes toward Church-State Establishment Issues.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 32:169176.Google Scholar
Wilcox, Clyde, Jelen, Ted G., and Leege, David C.. 1993. “Religious Group Identification: Toward a Cognitive Theory of Religious Mobilization.” In Rediscovering the Religious Factor in American Politics, eds. Leege, David C., and Armonk, Lyman A. Kellstedt., NY: M.E. Sharpe. 7299.Google Scholar
Wilcox, Clyde, and Larson, Carin. 2006. Onward Christian Soldiers? The Religious Right in American Politics, Third Edition. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Wuthnow, Robert. 1988. The Restructuring of American religions: Society and Faith since World War II. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar