The Mosque, Immigration Status, and Voting Participation among Muslim Americans

• In Event: 165 - Section on Sociology of Religion Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 04. Religion, Philanthropy, and Civic Participation

Abstract

Research in sociology of religion argues that religious organizations offer a free space for minority and immigrant groups where they can build a stronger identity and learn how to improve their group’s conditions which then leads to an increase in political engagement. Research looking at Muslim Americans has found that attending events at the mosque does lead to greater political engagement but excludes voting from the analysis. In this study, I look at voting participation in the 2004 presidential elections using a nationally representative sample of Muslim American voters. I find that participation in the mosque does not increase the likelihood of voting even for recent immigrants, which might be explained by the individual nature of voting and the unique experience of Muslims in the US. Instead, I find that Muslim Americans born in the US are more likely to vote than recent immigrants, and the longer one has lived in the US, the more likely one is to vote.

Author

• Tamara van der Does, Indiana University