Political Participation: Does Religion Matter?

Abstract

Verba, Schlozman, and Brady (1995) posit that variation in ethnic group political participation, while related to socioeconomic differences among them, is derived from the acquisition of civic skills through their associational memberships and, in particular, from their experiences in church. Catholic and Protestant churches were hypothesized to develop different levels of such skills, and Verba et al. suggested that the relatively low level of Latino political participation was explained by their predominantly Catholic affiliation. If Verba et al.'s argument is true, then we should see participatory differences within ethnic groups by denomination. An alternative hypothesis is that churches matter through their role as civic associations. In that case, denominational differences should not matter, but churchgoers should be more active than non-churchgoers. Examining the 1989-90 Latino National Political Survey and the 1990 ANES, we find that while denominational differences have some limited explanatory power for Hispanic political participation, it is in the opposite direction than that hypothesized. By far the more important contribution to an explanation of political participation is made by churches' central civic associational roles.