Most American congregations belong to denominations. These national networks often promote relevant political issues that constituent congregations may choose to address. Therefore, religious organizations might play a significant role in promoting the process of policy diffusion in the U.S. states. At the same time, congregations are tradition-maintaining institutions that focus first on their own immediate concerns, promoting the maintenance of distinctive regional political contexts and reinforcing the variation of federalism. In this article, we assess the role that religious organizations play in American federal democracy, promoting diffusion or the status quo, with respect to one crucial issue on which religious groups have been particularly vocal: the environment and global warming. We employ two datasets (a large-N national survey and two in-depth survey case studies of clergy in Ohio and South Carolina) and find evidence that religious organizations are vast communication networks that can promote policy diffusion, but typically do not.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AmmermanNancy Tatom2005. Pillars of Faith: American Congregations and their Partners. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
2.
BallaSteven J.2001. “Interstate Professional Associations and the Diffusion of Policy Innovations.” American Politics Research29:221–45.
3.
BeckerPenny Edgell1999. Congregations in Conflict: Cultural Models of Local Religious Life. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
4.
BerryFrances StokesBerryWilliam D.. 1990. “State Lottery Adoptions as Policy Innovations: An Event History Analysis.” American Political Science Review84:395–416.
5.
BrehmJohnScottGates1997. Working, Shirking, and Sabotage: Bureaucratic Response to a Democratic Public. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
6.
CadgeWendyOlsonLaura R.ChristopherWildeman2008. “How Denominational Resources Influence Debates about Homosexuality in Mainline Protestant Congregations.” Sociology of Religion69:187–207.
7.
CalfanoBrian R.2009. “Choosing Constituent Cues: Reference Group Influence on Clergy Political Speech.” Social Science Quarterly90:88–102.
8.
Calhoun-BrownAllison1996. “African-American Churches and Political Mobilization: The Psychological Impact of Organizational Resources.” The Journal of Politics58:935–53.
9.
CavendishJames C.2001. “To March or Not to March: Clergy Mobilization Strategies and Grassroots Antidrug Activism.” In Christian Clergy in American Politics, Eds. CrawfordSue E. S.OlsonLaura R.. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
10.
ChavesMarkMary EllenKoniecznyKraigBeyerleinEmilyBarman1999. “The National Congregations Study: Background, Methods, and Selected Results.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion38:458–76.
11.
CooperChristopher A.NownesAnthony J.StevenRoberts2005. “Perceptions of Power: Interest Groups in Local Politics.” State and Local Government Review37:206–16.
12.
CrawfordSue E. S.OlsonLaura R., eds. 2001. Christian Clergy in American Politics. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
13.
DjupePaul A.CalfanoBrian R.. 2009. “Justification Not by Faith Alone: Clergy Generating Trust and Certainty by Revealing Thought.” Politics and Religion2:1–30.
14.
DjupePaul A.GilbertChristopher P.. 2003. The Prophetic Pulpit: Clergy, Churches, and Communities in American Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
15.
DjupePaul A.GilbertChristopher P.. 2008. “Politics in Church: Byproduct or Central Mission?” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion47:45–62.
16.
DjupePaul A.GilbertChristopher P.. 2009. The Political Influence of Churches. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
17.
DjupePaul A.GwiasdaGregory W.. 2010. “Evangelizing the Environment: Decision Process Effects in Political Persuasion.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion49:73–86.
18.
DjupePaul A.Tobin GrantJ.. 2001. “Religious Institutions and Political Participation in America.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion40:303–14.
19.
DjupePaul A.NeiheiselJacob R.. 2008. “Clergy Deliberation on Gay Rights and Homosexuality.” Polity40:411–35.
20.
DjupePaul A.NilesFranklyn C.. 2010. “Prophets in the Wilderness: An Ecology of Ministerial Organization Representation in Public Affairs.” Politics and Religion3:150–78.
21.
DjupePaul A.OlsonLaura R.. 2007. “A Meditation on and Meta-analysis of the Public Presence of Religious Interests.” In Religious Interests in Community Conflict: Beyond the Culture Wars, Eds. DjupePaul A.OlsonLaura R., Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.
22.
DownsAnthony1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
23.
ElazarDaniel J.1984. American Federalism: A View from the States. 3rd ed.New York, NY: Crowell.
24.
ElazarDaniel1994. The American Mosaic: The Impact of Space, Time, and Culture on American Politics. Boulder, CO: Westview.
25.
ElshtainJean Bethke1981. Public Man, Private Woman: Women in Social and Political Thought. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
26.
FinkeRogerRodneyStark1992. The Churching of America 1776–1990: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
27.
FischerDavid Hackett1989. Albion's Seed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
28.
FowlerRobert Booth1995. The Greening of Protestant Thought. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
29.
FowlerRobert BoothHertzkeAllen D.OlsonLaura R.Dulk denKevin R.. 2004. Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture, and Strategic Choices. 3rd ed.Boulder, CO: Westview.
30.
FreemanPatricia K.1985. “Interstate Communication among State Legislators Regarding Energy Policy Innovation.” Publius15:99–111.
31.
GelmanAndrewDavidParkBorisShorJosephBafumiJeronimoCortina2008. Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
32.
GilbertChristopher P.1993. The Impact of Churches on Political Behavior: An Empirical Study. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
33.
GoodsteinLaurie2005. “Evangelical Leaders Swing Influence Behind Effort to Combat Global Warming.” The New York Times, March 10, A16.
34.
GrayVirginia1973. “Innovation in the States: A Diffusion Study.” American Political Science Review67: 1174–85.
35.
GrayVirginia1994. “Competition, Emulation, and Policy Innovation.” In New Perspectives on American Politics, Eds. DoddLawrence C.CalvinJillsonWashington, DC: CQ Press.
36.
GrayVirginiaDavidLowery1996. The Population Ecology of Interest Representation: Lobbying Communities in the American States. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
37.
GreenJohn C.2007. The Faith Factor: How Religion Influences American Elections. West-port, CT: Praeger.
38.
GuthJames L.GreenJohn C.KellstedtLyman A.SmidtCorwin E.. 1995. “Faith and the Environment: Religious Beliefs and Attitudes on Environmental Policy.” American Journal of Political Science39:364–82.
39.
GuthJames L.GreenJohn C.SmidtCorwin E.KellstedtLyman A.PolomaMargaret M.. 1997. The Bully Pulpit: The Politics of Protestant Clergy. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
40.
HaddenJefrey K.1969. The Gathering Storm in the Churches. Garden City, NY: Double-day.
41.
HagerMark A.SarahWilsonPollakThomas H.Patrick MichaelRooney2003. “Response Rates for Mail Surveys of Nonprofit Organizations: A Review and Empirical Test.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly32:252–67.
42.
HerbergWill1955. Protestant, Catholic, Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
43.
HeroRodney E.1998. Faces of Inequality: Social Diversity in American Politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
44.
HeroRodney E.2007. Racial Diversity and Social Capital: Equality and Community in AmericaNew York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
45.
HeroRodney E.TolbertCarolyn J.. 1996. “A Racial/Ethnic Diversity Interpretation of the Politics and Policy of the States of the U.S.” American Journal of Political Science40:851–71.
46.
HertzkeAllen D.1988. Representing God in Washington: The Role of Religious Lobbies in the American Polity. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.
47.
HillSamuel S.1985. “Religion and Region in America.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science480:132–41.
48.
HofrenningDaniel J. B.1995. In Washington but Not of It: The Prophetic Politics of Religious Lobbyists. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
49.
JanofskyMichael2005. “When Cleaner Air is a Biblical Obligation.” The New York Times, November 7, A18.
50.
JelenTed G.1992. “Political Christianity: A Contextual Analysis.” American Journal of Political Science36:692–714.
51.
JonesDale E.SherryDotyCliffordGrammichHorschJames E.RichardHousealMacLynnMarcumJohn P.SanchagrinKenneth M.TaylorRichard H.. 2002. Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States 2000: An Enumeration by Region, State, and County Based on Data Reported for 149 Religious Bodies. Nashville, TN: Glenmary Research Center.
52.
KellstedtLyman A.GreenJohn C.GuthJames L.SmidtCorwin E.. 1996. “Grasping the Essentials: The Social Embodiment of Religion and Political Behavior.” In Religion and the Culture Wars: Dispatches from the Front, Eds. GreenJohn C.GuthJames L.SmidtCorwin E.KellstedtLyman A.. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
53.
LaymanGeoffrey2001. The Great Divide: Religious and Cultural Conflict in American Party Politics. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
54.
LieskeJoel1993. “Regional Subcultures of the United States.” The Journal of Politics55:888–913.
55.
LieskeJoel2010. “The Changing Regional Subcultures of the American States and the Utility of a New Cultural Measure.” Political Research Quarterly, forthcoming.
56.
LoweryDavidLeeSigelman1982. “Political Culture and State Public Policy: The Missing Link.” Western Political Quarterly35:376–84.
57.
MartyMartin E.1970. Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America. New York, NY: Dial.
58.
MintromMichael1997. “Policy Entrepreneurs and the Diffusion of Innovation.” American Journal of Political Science41:738–70.
59.
MintromMichaelSandraVergari1998. “Policy Networks and Innovation Diffusion: The Case of State Education Reforms.” The Journal of Politics60:126–48.
60.
MohrLawrence B.1969. “Determinants of Innovation in Organizations.” American Political Science Review63:111–26.
61.
MoodyMichael2002. “Caring for Creation: Environmental Advocacy by Mainline Protestant Organizations.” In The Quiet Hand of God: Faith-Based Activism and the Public Role of Mainline Protestantism, Eds. RobertWuthnowEvansJohn H.. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
62.
MooneyChristopher Z.2001. “Modeling Regional Effects on State Policy Diffusion.” Political Research Quarterly54:103–24.
63.
MorrisAldon D.1984. The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement: Black Communities Organizing for Change. New York, NY: Free Press.
NeiheiselJacob R.DjupePaul A.. 2008. “Intraorganizational Constraints on Churches' Public Witness.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion47:427–41.
66.
NeiheiselJacob R.DjupePaul A.SokheyAnand E.. 2009. “Veni, Vidi, Disseri: Churches and the Promise of Democratic Deliberation.” American Politics Research37:614–43.
67.
OlsonLaura R.2000. Filled with Spirit and Power: Protestant Clergy in Politics. New York, NY: State University of New York Press.
68.
ParsonsTalcott1937. The Structure of Social Action. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
69.
PutnamRobert D.1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
70.
QuinleyHarold E.1974. The Prophetic Clergy: Social Activism among Protestant Ministers. New York, NY: Wiley.
71.
RaudenbushStephen W.BrykAnthony S.. 2002. Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis. 2nd ed.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
72.
SharkanskyIra1969. “The Utility of Elazar's Political Culture.” Polity2:66–83.
73.
SherkatDarren E.EllisonChristopher G.. 2007. “Structuring the Religion-Environment Connection: Identifying Religious Influences on Environmental Concern and Activism.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion46:71–85.
74.
ShipanCharles R.CraigVolden2006. “Bottom-Up Federalism: The Diffusion of Anti-Smoking Policies from U.S. Cities to States.” American Journal of Political Science50:825–43.
75.
ShipanCharles R.CraigVolden2008. “The Mechanisms of Policy Diffusion.” American Journal of Political Science52:840–57.
76.
SteenbergenMarco R.JonesBradford S.. 2002. “Modeling Multilevel Data Structures.” American Journal of Political Science46: 218–37.
77.
SteenslandBrianParkJerry Z.RegnerusMark D.RobinsonLynn D.Bradford WilcoxW.WoodberryRobert D.. 2000. “The Measure of American Religion: Toward Improving the State of the Art.” Social Forces79:291–318.
78.
TeodoroManuel P.2009. “Bureaucratic Job Mobility and the Diffusion of Innovations.” American Journal of Political Science53:175–89.
79.
VerbaSidneyKay LehmanSchlozmanBradyHenry E.. 1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
80.
VoldenCraig2006. “States as Policy Laboratories: Emulating Success in the Children's Health Insurance Program.” American Journal of Political Science50:294–312.
81.
WaldKenneth D.OwenDennis E.HillSamuel S.. 1988. “Churches as Political Communities.” American Political Science Review82:531–48.
82.
WalkerJack L.1969. “The Diffusion of Innovations among the American States.” American Political Science Review63:880–99.
83.
WeberRonald E.ShafferWilliam R.. 1972. “Public Opinion and American State Policy-Making.” Midwest Journal of Political Science16:683–99.
84.
WelchMichael R.LeegeDavid C.WaldKenneth D.KellstedtLyman A.. 1993. “Are the Sheep Hearing the Shepherds? Cue Perceptions, Congregational Responses, and Political Communication Processes.” In Rediscovering the Religious Factor in American Politics, Eds. LeegeDavid C.KellstedtLyman A.. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
85.
WhiteLynnJr.1967. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis.” Science155:1203–6.
86.
WildavskyAaron1987. “Choosing Preferences by Constructing Institutions: A Cultural Theory of Preference Formation.” American Political Science Review81:3–21.
87.
WitteJohnJr.2000. Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment: Essential Rights and Liberties. 2nd ed.Boulder, CO: Westview.
88.
WuthnowRobert1988. The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and Faith since World War II. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
89.
WuthnowRobertEvansJohn H., eds. 2002. The Quiet Hand of God: Faith-Based Activism and the Public Role of Mainline Protestantism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
90.
YamaneDavid2005. The Catholic Church in State Politics: Negotiating Prophetic Demands and Political Realities. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
91.
ZallerJohn R.1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
