Chicago Politics and Politicized Churches: Conventional and Unconventional Political Engagement among African Americans

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

Abstract

Using the 2008 Chicago Area Study, this paper analyzes survey data of Black respondents to examine the relationship between frequency of church attendance and pastoral encouragement. It also examines the effects of church attendance on conventional and unconventional forms of political activism on various race-related and race neutral policies in Chicago. One major finding is that African Americans who frequently attend church have higher rates of unconventional political activism than Blacks who attend less frequently. Second, Blacks who attend church infrequently increase their levels of voting selectivity; i.e., are more likely to decide whether to vote for a candidate based on their stance on the issue(s). These data show that church attendance is positively associated with unconventional political engagement. These data also give support to existing scholarship that suggests that pastoral political encouragement is important in mobilizing conventional political participation at the local level but not in politically unconventional ways. Those African Americans who attend church regularly are more politically engaged at the community level than are those who attend infrequently. The implications of these findings are examined.

Author

• Patrick Charles Washington, University of Illinois-Chicago