Religion as Political Tribalism
-
David E. Campbell
David E. Campbell is the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy at the University of Notre Dame. He has written widely on the subject of religion and politics, including Secular Surge (co-authored with Geoffrey C. Layman and John C. Green), American Grace (co-authored with Robert D. Putnam), and Seeking the Promised Land (co-authored with J. Quin Monson and John C. Green).
Abstract
Is religion a form of political tribalism? Conventional wisdom suggests it is. Discussion of religion and American politics generally focuses on the “God Gap”—the tendency for religious Americans to vote Republican, while the non-religious vote Democratic. However, there is also reason to argue that religion cannot be reduced to political tribalism. The God Gap is found mostly among white voters; among people of color, religiosity is a far weaker predictor of the vote. Even among white voters, the size of the God Gap varies across different religious traditions. Furthermore, there is more nuance to the non-religious population than suggested by the standard account of the God Gap. When the analysis includes the full scope of the American religious landscape, religion is not as “tribal” as conventional wisdom suggests.
About the author
David E. Campbell is the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy at the University of Notre Dame. He has written widely on the subject of religion and politics, including Secular Surge (co-authored with Geoffrey C. Layman and John C. Green), American Grace (co-authored with Robert D. Putnam), and Seeking the Promised Land (co-authored with J. Quin Monson and John C. Green).
References
Barnes, R. 2016. Battle Over Unions Signals Supreme Court Role at Center of Political Debate. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/battle-over-unions-signals-supreme-court-role-at-center-of-political-debate/2016/01/09/200e9bd0-b627-11e5-9388-466021d971de_story.html?utm_term=.ce1a05b40475 (accessed February 16, 2018).Suche in Google Scholar
Burge, R. P. 2021. The Nones Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.10.2307/j.ctv17vf41vSuche in Google Scholar
Burke, D. 2016. The Public and Private Faith of Hillary Clinton. CNN Politics. https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/30/politics/clinton-faith-private/index.html (accessed February 12, 2018).Suche in Google Scholar
Campbell, D. E. 2020. “The Perils of Politicized Religion.” Daedalus 149 (3): 87–104, https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01805.Suche in Google Scholar
Campbell, D. E., J. C. Green, and G. C. Layman. 2011. “The Party Faithful: Partisan Image, Candidate Religion, and the Electoral Impact of Party Identification.” American Journal of Political Science 55 (1): 42–58, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2010.00474.x.Suche in Google Scholar
Campbell, D. E., G. C. Layman, J. C. Green, and N. Sumaktoyo. 2018. “Putting Politics First: The Impact of Politics on American Religious and Secular Orientations.” American Journal of Political Science 62 (3): 551–65, https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12365.Suche in Google Scholar
Campbell, D. E., G. C. Layman, and J. C. Green. 2021. Secular Surge: A New Fault Line in American Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108923347Suche in Google Scholar
Casey, S. 2009. The Making of a Catholic President: Kennedy vs. Nixon 1960. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195374483.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Claassen, R. 2015. Godless Democrats and Pious Republicans? Party Activists, Party Capture, and the “God Gap”. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781316104873Suche in Google Scholar
Converse, P. E. 1966. “Religion and Politics: The 1960 Election.” In Elections and the Political Order, edited by P. E. Converse, W. E. Miller, D. E. Stokes, and A. Campbell. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Suche in Google Scholar
Djupe, P. A., J. R. Neiheisel, and K. H. Conger. 2018. “Are the Politics of the Christian Right Linked to State Rates of the Nonreligious? The Importance of Salient Controversy.” Political Research Quarterly. 71 (4): 910–22.10.1177/1065912918771526Suche in Google Scholar
Edgell, P., J. Gerteis, and D. Hartmann. 2007. “Atheists as ‘Other’: Cultural Boundaries and Cultural Membership in the United States.” American Sociological Review 71 (2): 211–34.10.1177/000312240607100203Suche in Google Scholar
Edgell, P., D. Hartmann, E. Stewart, and J. Gerteis. 2016. “Atheists and Other Cultural Outsiders: Moral Boundaries and the Non-Religious in the United States.” Social Forces 95 (2): 607–38, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sow063.Suche in Google Scholar
Graham, J. 2020. Inside the Faith Journeys of Kamala Harris and Mike Pence. Deseret News. https://www.deseret.com/2020/10/6/21497630/mike-pence-kamala-harris-religion-faith-journey-debate-baptist-catholic-hindu-jewish-evangelical (accessed September 30, 2021).Suche in Google Scholar
Green, E. 2019. Pete Buttigieg Takes Aim at Religious Hypocrisy. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/06/pete-buttigieg-religion/592897/ (accessed September 30, 2021).Suche in Google Scholar
Green, J. C. 2007. The Faith Factor: How Religion Influences American Elections. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.10.5040/9798400649592Suche in Google Scholar
Greenhouse, L. 2021. Opinion|God Has No Place in Supreme Court Opinions - The New York Times. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/opinion/abortion-supreme-court-religion.html (accessed September 30, 2021).Suche in Google Scholar
Hamburger, P. 2002. Separation of Church and State. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.10.4159/9780674038189Suche in Google Scholar
Hout, M., and C. S. Fischer. 2002. “Why More Americans Have No Religious Preference: Politics and Generations.” American Sociological Review 67 (2): 165–90, https://doi.org/10.2307/3088891.Suche in Google Scholar
Hout, M., and C. S. Fischer. 2014. “Explaining Why More Americans Have No Religious Preference: Political Backlash and Generational Succession, 1987-2012.” Sociological Science 1 (October): 423–47.10.15195/v1.a24Suche in Google Scholar
Jenkins, J. 2018. Cory Booker Could Be a Candidate for the ‘Religious Left’. Religion News Service. https://religionnews.com/2018/10/24/cory-booker-fashions-himself-as-a-candidate-for-the-religious-left/ (accessed September 30, 2021).Suche in Google Scholar
Kamisar, B. 2017. Trump: ‘We’re Saying Merry Christmas Again’. The Hill. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/355303-trump-were-saying-merry-christmas-again (accessed October 18, 2017).Suche in Google Scholar
Lajevardi, N. 2020. Outsiders at Home: The Politics of American Islamophobia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108782814Suche in Google Scholar
Layman, G. C. 2001. The Great Divide: Religious and Cultural Conflict in American Party Politics. New York: Columbia University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Margolis, M. F. 2019. “Who Wants to Make America Great Again? Understanding Evangelical Support for Donald Trump.” Politics and Religion 13 (1): 89–118.10.1017/S1755048319000208Suche in Google Scholar
Patrikios, S. 2008. “American Republican Religion?” Political Behavior 30 (3): 367–89, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-008-9053-1.Suche in Google Scholar
Putnam, R. D., and D. E. Campbell. 2012. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (Paperback, with New Epilogue). New York: Simon & Schuster.Suche in Google Scholar
Smidt, C. E., L. A. Kellstedt, and J. L. Guth. 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, edited by C. E. Smidt, L. A. Kellstedt, and J. L. Guth, 3–42. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195326529.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Wald, K. D., A. L. Silverman, and K. S. Fridy. 2005. “Making Sense of Religion in Public Life.” Annual Review of Political Science 8 (1): 121–43, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.8.083104.163853.Suche in Google Scholar
Wilcox, C., and C. Robinson. 2010. Onward Christian Soldiers?: The Religious Right in American Politics. Boulder: Westview Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Wong, J. 2018. Immigrants, Evangelicals, and Politics in an Era of Demographic Change. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.10.7758/9781610448741Suche in Google Scholar
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Introduction Fall 2021
- Articles
- It’s Only You and Me and We Just Disagree: The Ideological Foundations of Affective Polarization
- When Rural and Urban Become “Us” versus “Them”: How a Growing Divide is Reshaping American Politics
- Tribes and Proto-Tribes: The Deep Roots of Political Differences
- The Role of Political Elites in Eliciting Mass-Level Political Anger
- The Legacy of Rush Limbaugh Will Always Be Tied to Donald Trump
- Reflections on the Past and Present of Research on Partisan Identity
- What Do We Mean by Negative Partisanship?
- Religion as Political Tribalism
- The Tribal Economy: Economic Perceptions, Economic Anxiety and the Prospects for Political Accountability
- Book Review
- Andrea Benjamin: Racial Coalition Building in Local Elections: Elite Cues and Cross-Ethnic Voting
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Introduction Fall 2021
- Articles
- It’s Only You and Me and We Just Disagree: The Ideological Foundations of Affective Polarization
- When Rural and Urban Become “Us” versus “Them”: How a Growing Divide is Reshaping American Politics
- Tribes and Proto-Tribes: The Deep Roots of Political Differences
- The Role of Political Elites in Eliciting Mass-Level Political Anger
- The Legacy of Rush Limbaugh Will Always Be Tied to Donald Trump
- Reflections on the Past and Present of Research on Partisan Identity
- What Do We Mean by Negative Partisanship?
- Religion as Political Tribalism
- The Tribal Economy: Economic Perceptions, Economic Anxiety and the Prospects for Political Accountability
- Book Review
- Andrea Benjamin: Racial Coalition Building in Local Elections: Elite Cues and Cross-Ethnic Voting
