Is it *White* Christian Nationalism? Examining the Conditional Effects of Race

• In Event: The Nature and Political Effects of Christian Nationalism

Abstract

The rapidly expanding literature on Christian nationalism has taken a turn, choosing to focus on White Christian nationalism without, as yet, a systematic analysis of whether that segmentation is justified, both in scale construction and the analysis of subgroups. In this paper, we will focus on subgroup analysis. To be sure, the predominant politics of Christian nationalists in the US suggests the effects of Christian nationalism should be more heavily concentrated among whites – limiting immigration, gun control, LGBT rights, the role of science (and more) while expanding patriarchal structures, harsh punishments for crimes, and police authority in apprehending suspects. Yet, the influence of Christian nationalism is not limited to whites, with religious minorities loading highly on the scale. The samples typically employed to assess the relationships with Christian nationalism are not ideal for assessing the differential effects of race, however, given the typically small numbers of non-whites. Therefore, we turn to a sample tailor-made for this endeavor with equal numbers (~1,600 each) of whites, Blacks, and Latinos surveyed in September 2022. The survey included the standard measures used to capture CN along with a wide range of policy attitudes, some of which are racialized (e.g., voting rights and policing) and some of which are not understood to have racial connotations (e.g., abortion, LGBT rights, and flag burning). We can therefore assess under what conditions Christian nationalism has differential effects by race. We end by developing suggestions for future work that links race with Christian nationalism.

Authors

• Paul A. Djupe, Denison University

• Brian R. Calfano, latakoo, Inc.

• Andrew R. Lewis, University of Cincinnati

• Anand Edward Sokhey, University of Colorado, Boulder