Recent work in social identity theory suggests that linkages to traditional
religious organizations might influence identity with political parties. In
the United States, the loyalties citizens have to their church are also
linked to their political loyalties. Data from the recent 2000-2002-2004
American National Election Study (ANES) panel suggests that the demise of
religious commitment or partisan identification is hardly imminent. What
remains unexplored is to what extent the short-term changes in partisan
identification can be explained by the changes in religious behavior, and
vice versa. In this paper, we utilize latent curve modeling (LCM) to explore
the structural relationships and covariance structure of partisanship and
religiosity, controlling for religious denomination and other relevant
predictors. We discuss our findings of a positive correlation between the
initial intensity of these two trends and a significant, positive effect of
religiosity on partisanship over time.
Presented by:
Thomas Scotto, Department of Government
Date & time:
October 15, 2008 12:00 pm - October 14, 2008 11:00 pm
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