Newswise — Thomas Hirschl, a Cornell University professor of development sociology whose research focuses on social class differences in contemporary society, is the lead author of a recently published study that examines religious polarization among American voters. He comments on a Pew survey released this week noting a rapid shift in religious identity in the U.S.
Hirschl says:
“According to a survey released Tuesday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, a growing percentage of Americans have distanced themselves from formal religious affiliation, but not necessarily from religious belief.
“The survey notes that the religiously unaffiliated include varied educational and income groups, but skew heavily in a single political direction, with 68 percent leaning toward the Democratic Party. My own research suggests that this finding may be misleading, because it implies there are no social-class differences within religious political polarization.
“In a study of the eight Presidential elections beginning in 1980 and continuing through 2008, my research team found that evangelical support for the Republican Party is concentrated within upper income whites, versus upper income whites who self identified as secular, and were strong Democratic partisans. Low-income whites and minorities demonstrate much less inclination to vote on the basis of religious identity, and were more or less partisan neutral.
“Thus, upper-income whites drive the link between religious identity and Presidential voting.” Contact the Press Relations Office for information about Cornell's TV and radio studios.
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