Date of Award

Fall 2012

Degree Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Committee Chair

Marija Bekafigo

Committee Chair Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Committee Member 2

Troy Gibson

Committee Member 2 Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Committee Member 3

Allan McBride

Committee Member 3 Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Abstract

The idea of culture wars in politics suggests that American voters have polarized according to their positions on moral issues, and a religious gap in the electorate also contends that voters are polarized on these issues according to their religious beliefs and practices. Research shows that members of Congress send cues about their faith to their constituents, who in turn use the information to assess their representatives and determine their members' position on these moral issues. To determine how these cues are delivered and who delivers the information, I combed 100 Senators' and 435 Representatives' from the 1121 h Congress online biographies and recorded any of six different types ofreligious reference or mention of faith. However, only one-third of the members mentioned religion in their biographies. The only significant determinants of which members would use religion were the members' party, region, and percentage of adherents. Republican members, members from the South, and members who represent districts with a high percentage of religious adherents are more likely to reference religion in their biographies. My results suggest that members of Congress may not be willing to express their faiths on the internet. The low number of members who mention religion also suggests that moral issues may not be as important to the American electorate--or at least to the political elites- as some researchers contend.

Download

Share

COinS