Religious Nationalism and Confidence in Authoritarian Leaders: A Cross-National Study

• In Event: Authoritarian Politics

Abstract

Despite the intuitive connection between religious nationalist policies and the strength of authoritarian leadership around the world, we still know little about how religious nationalism corresponds to confidence in authoritarian leaders in the general population. Building on insights from work on Christian nationalism and authoritarian leadership in the United States and drawing on data from Pew’s 2024 Global Attitudes Survey, we examine how religious nationalism predicts confidence in Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping in 35 nations not led by those leaders, that is, where confidence in these leaders is not a direct reflection of in-group partisanship within a particular nation but instead reflects the reputation of those leaders on the world stage. We also examine the moderating roles of religious context and personal religiosity. Overall, our findings affirm that religious nationalism corresponds to greater confidence in authoritarian leaders, but this association varies by religious context in ways consistent with strategic geopolitical orientations toward particular leaders. This pattern suggests that religious nationalism does not operate as a uniform political ideology but instead takes on distinct political meanings across different contexts. Moreover, religious nationalism is most strongly associated with confidence in each authoritarian leader among the least personally religious, bringing the latter into conformity with more devout respondents who already tend to be confident in authoritarian leaders. Our findings thus represent the first steps toward understanding the dynamic relationship between religious nationalism, religion, and support for authoritarian leadership across national contexts.

Authors

• Ibrahim Enes Atac, Pennsylvania State University

• Samuel L. Perry, University of Oklahoma