Filling Pews and Voting Booths

DOI10.1177/1065912916634896
Date01 June 2016
AuthorAndre P. Audette,Christopher L. Weaver
Published date01 June 2016
Subject MatterArticles
Political Research Quarterly
2016, Vol. 69(2) 245 –257
© 2016 University of Utah
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DOI: 10.1177/1065912916634896
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Article
While churches1 and their congregants often have goals
and beliefs that can be easily translated into political
agendas, many churches shy away from political engage-
ment. A church’s decision about whether or not to engage
in political activities is dependent upon a variety of fac-
tors, including the interests of congregants, the clergy, the
denomination’s leadership, and the political context in
which the engagement occurs (e.g., McDaniel 2008).
Ultimately, however, any activity within a church must be
embedded in the church’s primary function: saving souls.
Thus, churches’ political activities should be evaluated
not only in terms of their success or failure in achieving
political ends, but also by their impact on congregational
membership. In the long run, winning a political battle
only to drive away congregants is a self-defeating
strategy.
A major backdrop to a church’s decision on whether to
engage in political activity is the fact that rates of reli-
gious affiliation and church attendance in the United
States have been undergoing a long-term decline. In con-
trast to the small fraction of Americans who were reli-
giously unaffiliated in 1950, nearly one-fifth of Americans
today are unaffiliated with a religion (Putnam and
Campbell 2010). Political scientists often characterize
this rise in secularization as a reaction to the prominence
of the Religious Right in American politics, positing that
the politicization of religion reduces religious participa-
tion, especially on the political and theological left (Hout
and Fischer 2002; Patrikios 2008; Putnam and Campbell
2010). These scholars argue that political liberals have
come to associate religion with conservative politics and
would rather reconcile the incongruity by changing their
religion than changing their politics (Putnam and
Campbell 2010). Indeed, self-identified Democrats are
more likely to disaffiliate from religion than Republicans,
especially among those wary of the involvement of reli-
gion in politics (Campbell and Putnam 2012).
However, researchers have so far only examined aggre-
gate trends in the involvement of religious organizations in
politics and levels of religious participation. Interpreting
and applying these changes at the congregational level
results in an ecological fallacy. It is possible for
634896PRQXXX10.1177/1065912916634896Political Research QuarterlyAudette and Weaver
research-article2016
1University of Notre Dame, IN, USA
Corresponding Author:
Andre P. Audette, Department of Political Science, University of
Notre Dame, 217 O’Shaughnessy Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
Email: aaudette@nd.edu
Filling Pews and Voting Booths: The Role
of Politicization in Congregational Growth
Andre P. Audette1 and Christopher L. Weaver1
Abstract
Declines in religious affiliation and church attendance in the United States have been well-documented, which political
scientists often attribute to the prominence of the Religious Right in American politics. These scholars posit that the
politicization of religion deters religious participation, especially among those on the political and theological left.
However, the existing research looks only at aggregate trends in the involvement of religious organizations in politics
and levels of religious participation. Using data from the National Congregations Study, a representative sample of
American congregations, we examine the impact of politicization on church membership rates at the congregational
level. Employing ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and cross-lagged structural equation models, we show that
more politically active congregations were more likely to see growth in membership over time. Using data from the
General Social Survey, we also offer evidence that partisans on both ends of the political spectrum are more likely
to engage in religious switching than independents, suggesting that those joining new congregations may be politically
motivated. Thus, while political activity may cost religions adherents at the aggregate level, politicization benefits
individual churches by attracting members from a politically motivated niche market, signifying that political outreach
can be an effective strategy for congregations.
Keywords
religion and politics, church shopping, congregations, polarization, secularization

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