Religion and Voting

In regards to the PO 240 lecture on political socialization, I would like to discuss one of methods of political socialization which Prof. Leone lectured about: religion.

In discussions of electoral behaviour, religion is often one of the first topics to arise in regards to what impacts the actions of the electorate. The question remains though as to whether this is truly a cause of change or merely a related factor. There is no question that religion is significantly associated with voting habits, but does it truly dictate one’s ideology?

Studies tend to show that overwhelmingly individuals will vote with their religion on key issues. It is for this reason that topics such as abortion are often avoided by politicians as they tend to have a polarizing effect on the voting public. When looking at the American system, it is certainly intriguing to discover that John F. Kennedy is the only non-Protestant US President to ever be elected. This certainly provides some evidence that religion trumps ideology in electoral behaviour, otherwise there would have been a greater balance in representation by other major religions.

Furthermore, religion trumps a variety of other methods of political socialization as they are often directly related. For example, family is one of the greatest means by which the average citizen shapes their own political views and interests, but seeing as most families tend to hold consistent religious ties then there should be little deviation between the two. Also, faith-based school systems have a similar effect as they also link religion to other major methods of political socialization: education and peers.

This is not to say that religion ultimately dominates all other facets of political interest, but it is clear that it has a very significant impact, especially in tandem with the other previously mentioned associations.