Religion and the 2020 Presidential Election
The Enduring Divide
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13057769 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David E Campbell (0000-0002-6360-7315, University of Notre Dame), James R G Kirk (0000-0001-6992-7443, University of Notre Dame), Geoffrey C Layman (0000-0002-5955-920X, University of Notre Dame, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 581-605 |
| Publication date | 2020-12-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Forum (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2194-6183 • E-ISSN: 1540-8884 |
| Publisher | De Gruyter (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/for-2020-2104 |
| OpenAlex | W3154357085 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 11 |
| References cited | 16 |
Religion played a prominent role in the 2020 presidential campaign. Donald Trump overtly courted white evangelical Protestants and Catholics, while Joe Biden emphasized his Catholicism far more than any Catholic candidate in American history. Did religion play as important a role in electoral behavior in 2020? If so, how and why did religion affect Americans’ voting decisions? We take up those questions by analyzing the religious vote in 2020 and the reasons why particular religious and non-religious groups voted as they did. We find that the religious divisions in the 2020 electorate were quite deep, but they were mostly unchanged from those present in 2016. Moreover, some electoral differences between religious groups are based in factors such as racial resentment, support for limited government, and anti-immigration attitudes that are not typically associated with religion. However, a key explanation for religious voting in 2020 was an old standby: the abortion issue. The religion gap in American electoral politics represents an enduring divide. The only changes were at the margins—but where elections are close, margins matter
Political economy · Political science · Politics · Politics of the United States · Presidential election · Presidential system · Resentment · Sociology · Voting · White (mutation · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious studies
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Preaching to the non-practising
Who leads the flock? Religion and the radical right among Brazilian migrants
Coping with Cross‐Pressures
God’s country
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The Foundations of American Jewish Liberalism
The Politics of American Jews
American grace
The Faith Factor
The American Ethos
In-Group Love and Out-Group Hate
Secularism and American Political Behavior
Putting Politics First
Who Wants to Make America Great Again? Understanding Evangelical Support for Donald Trump
Are White Evangelicals Populists? The View from the 2016 American National Election Study
Who Decides When The Party Doesn’t? Authoritarian Voters and the Rise of Donald Trump
Explaining Why More Americans Have No Religious Preference
| Unique citing works | 11 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,2 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |