Date of Defense

1-2007

Department

Comparative Religion

First Advisor

Dr. Brian Wilson

Second Advisor

Dr. Rudolf J. Siebert

Third Advisor

Dr. Vyacheslav Karpov

Abstract

The past two presidential elections have been awash with religious connotations. The language used by the candidates, the issues emphasized, voter turn-out of right-wing religious groups, the implied religious element of the terrorist attacks, and the United States' conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan; all of these elements served to raise awareness of the impact of religion on the American political scene. This paper attempts to address one aspect of the large issue of the religio/political relationship. Namely, what is the relationship between the level of church attendance and voting behavior? To narrow the topic, I will use 20th century American Catholicism as a working example of this relationship, and I will apply a theory from social psychology, self-categorization theory, as a means to understand this relationship.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Campus Only

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