Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T05:48:02.595Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Churches as Political Communities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Kenneth D. Wald ,
Dennis E. Owen  and
Samuel S. Hill Jr.
Kenneth D. Wald
Affiliation:
University of Florida
Dennis E. Owen
Affiliation:
University of Florida
Samuel S. Hill Jr.
Affiliation:
University of Florida
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Most studies of contextual influences on political attitudes and behavior have treated geographical areas as the operative social environment. As early research on social influence processes noted, the conditions that promote consensus among inhabitants of a common environment are likely to be present in formal organizations that encourage face-to-face interaction. Churches possess many of the characteristics that should maximize behavioral contagion and are thus fertile ground for the dissemination of common political outlooks. This expectation is tested by assessing the link between theological and political conservatism in 21 Protestant congregations. The theological climate in the churches is found to contribute strongly to the members' political conservatism over and above the personal commitment of respondents to traditional Christian values and a variety of social and attitudinal variables. As churches constitute the single most widespread form of voluntary organizational affiliation in the United States, their potential political impact appears to be considerable.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 82 , Issue 2 , June 1988 , pp. 531 - 548
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1988

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

Benson, Peter, and Williams, Dorothy. 1982. Religion on Capitol Hill: Myths and Realities. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Blau, Peter. 1960a. Structural Effects. American Sociological Review 25:178–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blau, Peter, 1960b. A Theory of Social Integration. American Journal of Sociology 65:545–56.Google Scholar
Boyd, Lawrence H. Jr., and Iversen, Gudmund R.. 1979. Contextual Analysis: Concepts and Statistical Techniques. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Conover, Patricia J., and Feldman, Stanley. 1986. Morality Items on the 1985 Pilot Study. University of Michigan Center for Political Studies. Memorandum submitted to the 1985 National Election Study Pilot Study Committee.Google Scholar
Durkheim, Emile. 1951. Suicide. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Eulau, Heinz, and Rothenberg, Lawrence. 1986. Life Space and Social Networks as Political Contexts. Political Behavior 8:130–57.Google Scholar
Finifter, Ada W. 1974. The Friendship Group As a Protective Environment for Political Deviants. American Political Science Review 68:607–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gorsuch, Richard L., and Aleshire, Daniel. 1974. Christian Faith and Ethnic Prejudice: A Review and Interpretation of Research. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 13:281–307.Google Scholar
Hadden, Jeffrey K. 1969. The Gathering Storm in the Churches. Garden City, NY: Doubleday-Anchor.Google Scholar
Himmelstein, Jerome L. 1986. The Social Basis of Antifeminism: Religious Networks and Culture. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 25:1–15.Google Scholar
Hoge, Dean R., and de Zulueta, Ernesto. 1985. Salience as a Condition for Various Social Consequences of Religious Commitment. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 24:21–38.Google Scholar
Huckfeldt, Robert. 1986. Politics in Context: Assimilation and Conflict in Urban Neighborhoods. New York: Agathon.Google Scholar
Hunter, James Davison. 1983. American Evangelicalism: Conservative Religion and the Quandary of Modernity. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Kellstedt, Lyman A., and Smidt, Corwin. 1985. Defining and Measuring Fundamentalism: An Analysis of Different Conceptual and Operational Strategies. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Koller, Norman B., and Retzer, Joseph D.. 1980. The Sounds of Silence Revisited. Sociological Analysis 44:155–61.Google Scholar
Leege, David C., and Gremillion, Joseph. 1986. The People, Their Pastors, and the Church: Viewpoints on Church Policies and Positions. Notre Dame Study of Catholic Parish Life Report No. 7. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame.Google Scholar
McCloskey, Herbert, and Dahlgren, Harold E.. 1959. Primary Group Influence upon Party Loyalty. American Political Science Review 53:757–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacKuen, Michael, and Brown, Courtney. 1987. Political Context and Attitude Change. American Political Science Review 81:471–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahe, Eddie Jr., 1987. Social Precincts. A New Look at Grass Roots Organization. Election Politics 4:15–18.Google Scholar
Parenti, Michael. 1967. Political Values and Religious Cultures: Jews, Catholics, and Protestants. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 6:259–69.Google Scholar
Quinley, Harold E. 1974. The Prophetic Clergy: Social Activism among Protestant Ministers. New York: Wiley-Interscience.Google Scholar
Sprague, John. 1982. Is There a Micro Theory Consistent with Contextual Analysis? In Strategies of Political Inquiry, ed. Ostrom, Elinor. Beverly Hills: Sage.Google Scholar
Stark, Rodeny. 1984. Religion and Conformity: Reaffirming a Sociology of Religion. Sociological Analysis 45:273–82.Google Scholar
Stark, Rodeny. 1987. Correcting Church Membership Rates. Review of Religious Research 29:69–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tate, Richard L. 1984. Limitations of Centering for Interactive Models. Sociological Methods and Research 13:251–71.Google Scholar
Tingsten, Herbert. 1937. Political Behaviour. London: King.Google Scholar
Wald, Kenneth D. 1987. Religion and Politics in the United States. New York: St. Martin's.Google Scholar
Walton, Hanes. 1985. Invisible Politics: Black Political Behavior. Albany, NY: State University of New York.Google Scholar
Walzer, Michael. 1985. Exodus and Revolution. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Welch, Michael R., and Leege, David C.. N.d. Religious Predictors of Catholic Parishioners' Socio-political Attitudes: Devotional Style, Closeness to God, Imagery, and Agentic/Communal Religious Identity. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
White, Richard H. 1968. Toward a Theory of Religious Influence. Pacific Sociological Review 11: 23–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wuthnow, Robert. 1973. Religious Commitment and Conservatism: In Search of an Elusive Relationship. In Religion in Sociological Perspective, ed. Glock, Charles Y.. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.