From Politics to the Pews: How Partisanship and the Political Environment Shape Religious Identity

307 Pages·2018·5.481 MB·English

by  Michele F. Margolis

From Politics to the Pews
Chicago Studies in American Politics
a series edited by benjamin i. page, susan herbst,
lawrence r. jacobs, and adam j. berinsky
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Additional series titles follow index
From Politics to the Pews
How Partisanship and the Political
Environment Shape Religious Identity
MIcHElE F. MaRgolIS
The University of chicago Press
chicago and london
The University of chicago Press, chicago 60637
The University of chicago Press, ltd., london
© 2018 by The University of chicago
all rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief
quotations in critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the
University of chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., chicago, Il 60637.
Published 2018
Printed in the United States of america
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 55564- 5 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 55578- 2 (paper)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 55581- 2 (e- book)
DoI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226555812.001.0001
library of congress cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Margolis, Michele F., author.
Title: From politics to the pews : how partisanship and the political
environment shape religious identity / Michele F. Margolis.
other titles: chicago studies in american politics.
Description: chicago : The University of chicago Press, 2018. |
Series: chicago studies in american politics
Identifiers: lccN 2018004882 | ISBN 9780226555645 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780226555782 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780226555812 (e-book)
Subjects: lcSH: Religion and politics—United States. | Partisanship—Political
aspects. | Identity politics—United States.
classification: lcc Bl65.P7 M37 2018 | DDc 201/.720973—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018004882
♾ This paper meets the requirements of aNSI/NISo Z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
For my parents, Peter and Wendy Margolis
For Adam

coNTENTS
Acknowledgments / ix
oNE / group Identities and Politics in the United States / 1
Two / Putting Things in context: Religious and Political
attachments over Time / 19
THREE / a life- cycle Theory of Religion and Politics / 39
FoUR / Tracking Religious Trajectories over a lifetime / 65
FIvE / Partisans’ Religious Responses to the Political Environment / 103
SIx / The Religious and Political consequences of Political
Knowledge / 131
SEvEN / Faithful Partisans: a closer look at african americans / 147
EIgHT / generalizing the life- cycle Theory: a Reevaluation
of the 1960 Election / 179
NINE / The Religious Sort / 189
Appendix / 205
Notes / 243
References / 257
Index / 285

acKNowlEDgMENTS
as a senior at Uc Berkeley, I decided to write a thesis on how members of
different religious traditions vote. I was terrified when I approached Jack
citrin to ask if he would be my thesis advisor. convinced that he would say
no, I almost didn’t ask him. But I mustered the requisite courage, and I am
so glad I did. with Jack as my advisor and mentor during my senior year,
I discovered a love of doing research and my fascination with religion and
politics in america. My sincerest thanks go to Jack for starting me down
this path.
once in graduate school at MIT, my advisors— adam Berinsky, gabe
lenz, and charles Stewart—h elped me transform my general interests and
vague intuitions into a research agenda. adam’s natural skepticism and prob-
ing questions forced me to refine my arguments and think through the theo-
retical and empirical implications of each of my claims. I knew when I had
convinced adam of something that I had made progress. I also thank adam
for his financial generosity; much of the early data collection for this book
would not have been possible without the Political Experiments Research
lab at MIT. I benefited tremendously from gabe’s thorough and construc-
tive reading of my work; he offered critical input on issues of research de-
sign, analysis, and framing, while simultaneously being the consummate
cheerleader. gabe’s willingness to provide feedback and support made it
easy for me to forget that he was not actually living in cambridge for a
good deal of my graduate school career. charles’s knowledge about religion
proved invaluable as this book project took shape. on numerous occasions,
he pointed me toward useful data sources on religion about which I would
not have otherwise known. In graduate school, I had the good fortune to be
part of vibrant intellectual communities in both cambridge and chicago,
where I received thoughtful feedback and useful advice on my research. In