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Using Matching to Investigate the Relationship between Religion and Tolerance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2013

Ryan Burge*
Affiliation:
Eastern Illinois University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Ryan Burge, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Ave., Charleston, IL 61920. E-mail: rpburge@eiu.edu

Abstract

Examining religion in the study of political behavior has produced varied results because of a lack of clarity on the conceptualization of religion and a methodology that cannot adequately untangle the multiple meanings of religion. Using the technique of propensity score matching, this work breaks apart the three B's in a number of analyses in order to properly understand how behavior, belief, and belonging impacts political tolerance. The results of this analysis indicate that a belief in biblical literalism decreases political tolerance, while church attendance often increases tolerance.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2013 

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