Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T19:10:07.744Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Moral Politics: The Religious Factor in Referenda Voting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2014

Carolin Rapp ,
Richard Traunmüller ,
Markus Freitag  and
Adrian Vatter
Carolin Rapp*
Affiliation:
University of Bern
Richard Traunmüller*
Affiliation:
University of Essex
Markus Freitag*
Affiliation:
University of Bern
Adrian Vatter*
Affiliation:
University of Bern
*
Address correspondence and request for reprints to: Carolin Rapp, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: carolin.rapp@ipw.unibe.ch; Richard Traunmüller, University of Essex, Department of Government, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom. E-mail: r.traun@essex.ac.uk; Markus Freitag, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: markus.freitag@ipw.unibe.ch; Adrian Vatter, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: adrian.vatter@ipw.unibe.ch.
Address correspondence and request for reprints to: Carolin Rapp, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: carolin.rapp@ipw.unibe.ch; Richard Traunmüller, University of Essex, Department of Government, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom. E-mail: r.traun@essex.ac.uk; Markus Freitag, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: markus.freitag@ipw.unibe.ch; Adrian Vatter, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: adrian.vatter@ipw.unibe.ch.
Address correspondence and request for reprints to: Carolin Rapp, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: carolin.rapp@ipw.unibe.ch; Richard Traunmüller, University of Essex, Department of Government, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom. E-mail: r.traun@essex.ac.uk; Markus Freitag, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: markus.freitag@ipw.unibe.ch; Adrian Vatter, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: adrian.vatter@ipw.unibe.ch.
Address correspondence and request for reprints to: Carolin Rapp, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: carolin.rapp@ipw.unibe.ch; Richard Traunmüller, University of Essex, Department of Government, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom. E-mail: r.traun@essex.ac.uk; Markus Freitag, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: markus.freitag@ipw.unibe.ch; Adrian Vatter, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: adrian.vatter@ipw.unibe.ch.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article combines the research strands of moral politics and political behavior by focusing on the effect of individual and contextual religiosity on individual vote decisions in popular initiatives and public referenda concerning morally charged issues. We rely on a total of 13 surveys with 1,000 respondents each conducted after every referendum on moral policies in Switzerland between 1992 and 2012. Results based on cross-classified multilevel models show that religious behaving instead of nominal religious belonging plays a crucial role in decision making on moral issues. This supports the idea that the traditional confessional cleavage is replaced by a new religious cleavage that divides the religious from the secular. This newer cleavage is characterized by party alignments that extend from electoral to direct democratic voting behavior. Overall, our study lends support to previous findings drawn from American research on moral politics, direct democracies, and the public role of religion.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 418 - 443
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ackermann, Kathrin, and Traunmüller, Richard. 2014. “Jenseits von Schwerkraft und Höllenfeuer. Nicht-lineare Kontexteffekte auf den Zusammenhang von religiöser Gruppenzugehörigkeit und individuellem Wahlverhalten bei fünf Bundestagswahlen.” Politische Vierteljahresschrift 55:33–66.Google Scholar
Biggers, Daniel. 2011. “When Ballot Issues Matter: Social Issue Ballot Measures and Their Impact on Turnout.” Political Behavior 33:3–25.Google Scholar
Brooks, Clem, Nieuwbeerta, Paul and Manza, Jeff. 2006. “Cleavage-Based Voting Behavior in Cross-National Perspective: Evidence From Six Postwar Democracies.” Social Science Research 35:88–128.Google Scholar
Bruce, Steve. 2002. God is Dead. Secularization in the West. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Bruce, Steve. 2009. “Secularization and Politics.” In Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics, ed. Haynes, Jeffrey. New York, NY: Routledge, 145–158.Google Scholar
Camobreco, John F., and Barnello, Michelle A.. 2008. “Democratic Responsiveness and Policy Shock: The Case of State Abortion Policy.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 8:48–65.Google Scholar
Campbell, David E. ed. 2007. A Matter of Faith. Religion in the 2004 Presidential Election. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Castles, Francis G. 1994. “On Religion And Public Policy: Does Catholicism Make A Difference?” European Journal of Political Research 25:19–40.Google Scholar
Chung, Yeojin, Rabe-Hesketh, Sophia, Dorie, Vincent, Gelman, Andrew, Andrew, and Liand, Jingchen 2012. “A Non-Degenerate Estimator for Variance Parameters in Multilevel Models via Penalized Likelihood Estimation.” Psychometrika (forthcoming).Google Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Gilbert, Christopher P.. 2008. The Political Influence of Churches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Donovan, Todd, Tolbert, Caroline J., and Smith, Danile. 2008. “Priming Presidential Votes by Direct Democracy.” The Journal of Politics 70:1217–1231.Google Scholar
Dorie, Vincent. 2011. Bayesian Linear Mixed-Effects Models. R package version 0.01-4.Google Scholar
Elff, Martin. 2007. “Social Structure and Electoral Behavior in Comparative Perspective: The Decline of Social Cleavages in Western Europe Revisited.” Perspectives on Politics 5:277–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engeli, Isabelle. 2009. “The Challenges of Abortion and Assisted Reproductive Technologies Policies in Europe.” Comparative European Politics 7:56–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engeli, Isabelle, and Varone, Frédéric. 2011. “Governing Morality Issues through Procedural Policies.” Swiss Political Science Review 17:239–258.Google Scholar
Fabrizio, Paul J. 2001. “Evolving into Morality Politics: U.S. Catholic Bishops' Statements on U.S. Politics from 1972 to the Present.” In The Public Clash of Private Values, ed. Mooney, C. Z. New York, NY: Chatham House. 73–90.Google Scholar
Fairbanks, David. 1977. “Religious Forces and ‘Morality’ Policies in the American States.” The Western Political Quarterly 30:411–417.Google Scholar
Feddersen, Timothy, Gailmard, Sean, and Sandroni, Alvaro. 2009. “Moral Bias in Large Elections: Theory and Empirical Evidence.” American Political Science Review 103:175–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fink, Simon. 2008. “Politics as Usual or Bringing Religion Back In?” Comparative Political Studies 41:1631–1656.Google Scholar
Fiorina, Morris P. 2005. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. New York, NY: Longman.Google Scholar
Flanagan, Scott C., and Lee, Aie-Rie. 2003. “The New Politics, Culture Wars, and the Authoritarian-Libertarian Value Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies.” Comparative Political Studies 36:235–270.Google Scholar
Fox, Jonathan. 2013. “Is it really God's Century? An Evaluation of Religious Support and Discrimination from 1990 to 2008.” Politics and Religion 7:4–27.Google Scholar
Geissbühler, Simon. 1999. “Are Catholics Still Different? Catholicism, Political Attitudes and Party Attachments in Switzerland, 1970–95.” West European Politics 22:223–240.Google Scholar
Gelman, Andrew and Hill, Jennifer. 2007. Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Geser, Hans. 1997. “The Persistence of Confessional Political Culture in Switzerland: Some Puzzling Empirical Evidence from Local Parties.” Swiss Political Science Review 3:1–29.Google Scholar
Greeley, Andrew. 1989. “Protestant and Catholic: Is the analogical imagination extinct?” American Sociological Review 54:485–502.Google Scholar
Green, John C. 2010. The Faith Factor. How Religion Influences American Elections. Washington, DC: Potomac Books.Google Scholar
Grummel, John A. 2008. “Morality Politics, Direct Democracy, and Turnout.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 8:282–292.Google Scholar
Haider-Markel, Donald P. 2001. “Morality in Congress? Legislative Voting on Gay Issues.” In The Public Clash of Private Values, ed. Mooney, C. Z. New York, NY: Chatham House, 115–129.Google Scholar
Hunter, James D. 1991. Culture Wars. The Struggle to Define America. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Hutcheson, John D. Jr., and Taylor, George A.. 1973. “Religious Variables, Political System Characteristics, and Policy Outputs in the American States.” American Journal of Political Science 17:414–421.Google Scholar
Hutson, James. 1991. The Sister Republics, Switzerland and the United States from 1776 to the Present. East Lansing, MI: University of Michigan.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. 1977. The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles among Western Publics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Baker, William E.. 2000. “Modernization, Cultural Change, and the Persistence of Traditional Values.” American Sociological Review 65:19–51.Google Scholar
Jelen, Ted G. 2009. “Religion and American Public Opinion: Social Issues.” In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Politics, eds. Smidt, Corwin E., Kellstedt, Lamyn A., and Guth, James L.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 217–242.Google Scholar
Kirchner, Antje, Freitag, Markus, and Rapp, Carolin. 2011. “Crafting Tolerance: The Role of Political Institutions in a Comparative Perspective.” European Political Science Review 3:201–227.Google Scholar
Knill, Christoph. 2013. “The Study of Morality Policy: Analytical Implications from a Public Policy Perspective.” Journal of European Public Policy 20:309–317.Google Scholar
Knutsen, Oddbjorn. 2004. “Religious Denomination and Party Choice in Western Europe: A Comparative Longitudinal Study from Eight Countries, 1970-97.” International Political Science Review 25:97–128.Google Scholar
Kotler-Berkowitz, Lawrence A. 2001. “Religion and Voting Behaviour in Great Britain: A Reassessment.” British Journal of Political Science 31:523–554.Google Scholar
Kriesi, Hanspeter, and Trechsel, Alexander H.. 2008. The Politics of Switzerland: Continuity and Change in a Consensus Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lachat, Romain. 2012. “The religious cleavage in Switzerland, 1971–2007.” Paper prepared for the Conference “Religiosity, Ideology, and Voting in Europe”. Madrid, February 1–3.Google Scholar
Layman, Geoffrey C. 2001. The Great Divide: Religious and Cultural Conflicts in American Party Politics. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Layman, Geoffrey C., and Green, John C.. 2005. “Wars and Rumors of War: The Contexts of Cultural Conflict in American Political Behavior.” British Journal of Political Science 36:61–89.Google Scholar
Leege, David C., Wald, Kenneth D., Krueger, Brian S., and Mueller, Paul D.. 2002. The Politics of Cultural Differences. Social Change and Voter Mobilization Strategies in the Post New Deal Period. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Lenski, Gerhard. 1961. The Religious Factor: A Sociological Study of Religion's Impact on Politics, Economics, and Family Life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Lijphart, Arend. 1979. “Religious vs. Linguistic vs. Class Voting: The ‘Crucial Experiment’ of Comparing Belgium, Canada, South Africa and Switzerland.” American Political Science Review 73:442–458.Google Scholar
Linder, Wolf. 2010. Swiss Democracy. Possible Solutions to Conflict in Multicultural Societies. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Manow, Philip. 2002. “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 54:203–225.Google Scholar
McTague, John Michael, and Layman, Geoffrey C.. 2009. “Religion, Parties, and Voting Behavior: A Political Explanation of Religious Influence.” In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Politics, eds. Smidt, Corwin E., Kellstedt, Lamyn A., and Guth, James L.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 330–370.Google Scholar
Meier, Kenneth J. 1994. The Politics of Sin. Drugs, Alcohol, and Public Policy . In Bureaucracies, Public Administration, and Public Policy, ed. Meier, Kenneth J. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Milic, Thomas. 2008. Ideologie und Stimmverhalten. Zürich: Ruegger.Google Scholar
Minkenberg, Michael. 2002. “Religion and Public Policy. Institutional, Cultural, and Political Impact on the Shaping of Abortion Policies in Western Democracies.” Comparative Political Studies 35:221–247.Google Scholar
Minkenberg, Michael. 2010. “Party Politics, Religion and Elections in Western Democracies.” Comparative European Politics 8:385–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mooney, Christopher Z. 2001. “The Public Clash of Private Values.” In The Public Clash of Private Values, ed. Mooney, C. Z. New York, NY: Chatham House, 3–18.Google Scholar
Mooney, Christopher Z., and Lee, Mei-Hsien. 2000. “The Influence of Values on Consensus and Contentious Morality Policy: U.S. Death Penalty Reform, 1956–82.” The Journal of Politics 62:223–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mooney, Christopher Z., and Schuldt, Richard G.. 2008. “Does Morality Policy Exist? Testing a Basic Assumption.” Policy Studies Journal 36:199–218.Google Scholar
Morgan, David, and Meier, Kenneth. 1980. “Politics and Morality: The Effect of Religion on Referenda Voting.” Social Science Quarterly 61:144–148.Google Scholar
Nicolet, Sarah, and Tresch, Anke. 2009. “Changing Religiosity, Changing Politics? The Influence of “Belonging” and “Believing” on Political Attitudes in Switzerland.” Politics and Religion 2:76–99.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa, and Inglehart, Ronald. 2004. Sacred and Secular. Religion and Politics Worldwide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Olson, Laura R., Cadge, Wendy, and Harrison, James T.. 2006. “Religion and Public Opinion about Same-Sex Marriage.” Social Science Quarterly 87:340–360.Google Scholar
Pickel, Gert 2001. Moralische Vorstellungen und ihre religiöse Fundierung im europäischen Vergleich. In Religion und Moral. Entkoppelt oder Verknüpft? (English translation here please), eds. Pickel, G., and Krüggeler, M.. Opladen: Leske + Budrich, 105–134.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D., and Campbell, David E.. 2012. American Grace. How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Richard, Alan J., Bell, David C., and Carlson, Jerry W.. 2000. “Individual Religiosity, Moral Community, and Drug User Treatment.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 39:240–246.Google Scholar
Roh, Jongho, and Haider-Markel, Donald P.. 2003. “All Politics are Note Local: National Forces in State Abortion Initiatives.” Social Science Quarterly 84:15–31.Google Scholar
Scheepers, Per, and van der Slik, Frans. 1998. “Religion and Attitudes on Moral Issues: Effects of Individual, Spouse and Parental Characteristics.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37:678–691.Google Scholar
Scott, Jaqueline. 1998. “Generational Changes in Attitudes to Abortion: A Cross-National Comparison.” European Sociological Review 14:177–190.Google Scholar
Schiffino, Nathalie, Ramjoué, Celina, and Varone, Frédéric. 2009. “Biomedical Policies in Belgium and Italy: From Regulatory Reluctance to Policy Changes.” West European Politics 32:559–585.Google Scholar
Smith, M. A. 2001. “The Contingent Effects of Ballot Initiatives and Candidate Races on Turnout.” American Journal of Political Science 45:700–706.Google Scholar
Stark, Rodney, and Glock, Charles Y.. 1968. American Piety: The Nature of Religious Commitment. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Studlar, Donley T. 2001. “What Constitutes Morality Policy? A Cross National Analysis.” In The Public Clash of Private Values, ed. Mooney, C. Z. New York, NY: Chatham House, 37–51.Google Scholar
Studlar, Donley T., Cagossi, Alessandro, and Duval, Robert D.. 2013. “Is Morality Policy Different? Institutional Explanations for Post-War Western Europe.” Journal of European Public Policy 20:353–371.Google Scholar
Toft, Monica Duffy, Philpott, Daniel, and Shah, Timothy Samuel. 2011. God's Century. Resurgent Religion and Global Politics. New York, NY: Norton and Company.Google Scholar
Tolbert, Caroline J., Grummel, John A., and Smith, Daniel A.. 2001. “The Effects of Ballot Initiatives on Voter Turnout in the American states.” American Politics Research 29:625–648.Google Scholar
Tolbert, Caroline J., and Smith, Daniel A.. 2005. “The Educative Effects of Ballot Initiatives on Voter Turnout.” American Politics Research 33:283–309.Google Scholar
Traunmüller, Richard. 2011. “Moral Communities? Religion as a Source of Social Trust in a Multilevel Analysis of 97 German Regions.” European Sociological Review 27:346–363.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, Schlozman, Kay L., and Brady, Henry. 1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voll, Peter. 1991. “Konfession und Politik in der Schweiz (English translation here please).” Schweizerissche Zeitschrift für Soziologie (English translation here please) 17:375–406.Google Scholar
Weber, Max. [1920] 1988. Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Religionssoziologie I. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.Google Scholar
Wolf, Christof. 1996. “Konfessionelle versus religiöse Konfliktlinie in der deutschen Wählerschaft.” Politische Vierteljahresschrift (English translation here please) 37:713–734.Google Scholar