Religion Flashcards
Religion definition
Religion is a set of beliefs, symbols and practices based on the idea of the sacred or superhuman powers
Durkheim religion definition
Religion was the main integrating force of societies, by ‘uniting self-interested individuals into a moral community’
Martin
Religion’s role as a political instrument and a means of exertion and legitimisation of power has been evident throughout history
Dalton
Argues both denominational and religiosity effects on voting are modest
Kotler-Berkowitz
- Church of England identifiers more likely to vote UKIP in 2015, Leave in 2016 and hold negative attitudes to immigration, despite church teaching. In other European countries, religion also has a negative effect on views towards immigration
- But religious denominational effects in Britain can depend on belief and on class identity eg. Catholics are generally more likely to vote Labour, but this is voting-Labour correlation is weaker among stronger believers and among working-class individuals
- In early 1990s, religion was still very much a salient voting factor then, and that ‘religious belonging, behaviour and belief, as well as the religious context of households, continue to influence British voting behaviour’.
Paterson
Anglicans that attend church more often hold more positive views towards immigrants.
Greater exposure to elite cues, via attendance at religious services, is related to more positive immigration attitudes
McCauley
Religious priming leads to values-based voting. In Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, ethnic priming leads to preferences for local goods, while religious (Muslim vs Christian) priming leads to preferences for high moral standards. Author’s hypothesis is that ethnic groups are more geographically bounded in these countries, and this might not apply in all contexts
Ben-num et al
While the private aspect of religious belief is associated with traditional and survival values which decrease support for democracy; the communal aspect of religion increases political interest and trust in institutions, which lead to more support for democracy
Hayes
In eight Western countries, ‘apostates’ (people who have given up their religious beliefs) are significantly less opposed to abortion and working women; oppose religion in politics; and have less confidence in institutions compared to their catholic or protestant counterparts. There are no significant differences between ‘apostates’ and ‘stable independents’
Just et al
- Religion can mobilise immigrants politically, but there is variation on the immigrant generation, religiosity, and type of religion.
- Immigrants who belonged to a religion participated less in politics, but those who were more exposed to religious institutions participate more.
- Second-generation Muslim immigrants are more religious and less satisfied with their host countries, and that for them, religiosity is more strongly linked to their political engagement, albeit only for uninstitutionalised political action.
Kauffmann
Why are American woman more likely to be Democrats when they are more religious?
(i) that religion is only influential amongst the most committed;
(ii) that men and women politicise their belief in different ways; and
(iii) that gender differences in opinion on nonreligious issues, such as the social welfare state, can explain the partisan gap moreso than religious differences.
Savage
Previous literature shows that religious individuals are less likely to favour redistribution either because (1) religion provides a substitute for state welfare; or (2) that it adds a salient moral dimension to an individual’s calculus where they may act contrary to their economic interest.
Savage (2020) argues of a process of partisan-motivated reasoning. When parties can combine religion with pro-distribution policies, religious voters are more likely to favour redistribution because it reinforces their partisan identity. In advanced democracies, religious individuals may be more inclined to support centre-right parties that oppose redistribution. However, in Central and Eastern Europe, nationalist populist parties adopt policy platforms that combine religion and leftist economic programmes. They can credibly combine these two positions, because religion and the welfare state have become linked to conceptions of the nation. Furthermore, religious supporters of nationalist populist parties are more likely to favour redistribution than religious supporters of other parties
Tilley
- Religion has been consistently important in predicting voters’ party choices in Britain over time.
- Neither social makeup nor ideological differences (social conservatism, economic leftism, or national identity) between religious groups can account for it.
- Particular denominations are associated with parties that represented them when social cleavages were frozen
HENCE parental transmission of party affiliations within denominations is important to explain the persistence of social cleavages and the mechanisms that maintain them - Religiosity increases support for the right through links between Christian Democratic parties and other conservative parties to the national church
Definition of secularisation
Disassociation or separation from religious or spiritual concerns
Robin quote
‘the growing secularization of Western European societies is now a well-documented and virtually uncontested phenomenon’
Best
Evidence for decline in religion as a basis for vote choice. Decline in contributions mainly due to declining loyalty among Christians as a whole, and declining numbers of church goers.
Evidence against secularisation
Globally, religion is on the rise. It is primarily in Western Europe and other high income democracies where it is in decline. The US is modern but not secular
Martin
Even within Western Europe, measures of secularisation may just be a sign of changing practice and not general decline of religion - eg. ‘believing without belonging’, religious TV and radio, New Age spirituality (basically a very difficult to define, random mix of religions).
HOWEVER, any increases in these are too small to compensate for the decline in traditional religious activity in the countries which have secularised
Djupe et al
- There was more secularisation in the US where the Christian Right was strong enough to institute same-sex marriage bans; in states which this was passed, religion lost 2-8% of the population
- Find evidence for the Hout & Fischer claim that the rise in the religiously unaffiliated is due to the extreme politics of the Christian Right that turns liberal and moderate Christians away. The authors find that rate of religious ‘nones’ rises in Republican states, and when the Christian Right comes into public conflict.
Stark and Finke
No decline in demand for religion, it is just that some European countries have problems with the supply in the market for religious services. Hence plurality of religions and free competition in the US explains high religiosity
Froese
Evidence of ‘religious revival’ in certain countries, particularly in Eastern Europe. Even in certain Western European countries like Britain, the salience of religion is still argued to be high.
Voas and Bruce
Britain is becoming more secular, because older people with an attachment to the Church of England and other Christian denominations are gradually being replaced in the population by unaffiliated younger people. Generational replacement as the mechanism. Over time, there has been a dramatic decline in the proportion of people who identify with Christianity along with a substantial increase in those with no religious affiliation, and a steady increase in those belonging to non-Christian faiths.
Brooks and Manza
There has been no general decline in denominational differences in the US, in particular that secularisation has not weakened the religious cleavage. The Christian Right in the US have neither become more right-wing nor more participatory
Voas and Chaves
Some argue that the US’s high levels of religiosity is a counterexample to the secularisation thesis. Voas and Chaves argue it should not, because 1) American religiosity has been declining for decades, and 2) this is a generational effect, each successive cohort has been less religious than the last
