Good Citizens under God? Individual and Institutional Religious Influences on Citizenship Norms and Participation

• In Event: 594 - Section on Political Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 03. Civic Engagement

Abstract

Vibrant democracies depend on an engaged citizenry committed to the principles of democratic citizenship rights and duties, and participation in politics. Religious involvement has frequently been viewed as either aiding or undermining “good” democratic citizenship. Here we use 2004 ISSP data on religious attendance, citizenship norms and political participation and a measure of institutionalized state religious legislation and national devotion in 37 nations in order to evaluate the extent to which individual and institutional religious characteristics influence citizenship beliefs and participation. The results of multilevel models indicate that at the individual level, those who attend religious services more often are more committed to citizenship duties and more politically involved. Institutionally, religious legislation tends to suppress citizenship commitments, but may boost the commitment of more religiously committed citizens, while the opposite is true for more devout nations. The findings emphasize the importance of understanding the operation of religious influence on multiple levels.

Authors

• Catherine I. Bolzendahl, University of California-Irvine

• Rottem Sagi, University of California-Irvine