Pathways to Political Participation? Religion, Communication Contexts, and Mass Media

Abstract

Recently, there has been a focus on religion as an essential catalyst for political participation and renewed civic engagement. Various claims share the common assumption that religion promotes the essential components of political participation including motivation, recruitment, and ability. Using survey data from the 2000 National Election Study, we examine the processes that link the structural and cognitive dimensions of religion with political discussion networks, mass media use, and various indicators of democratic citizenship, including political participation. Our results show that current claims related to religion may be oversold. Specifically, we find that the cognitive dimension of religion leads to several negative effects on aspects of democratic citizenship. Our results also indicate that the structural effects of religion are limited, compared to secular networks, which provide an ideal setting for citizens to gain and exchange information, increase feelings of efficacy, and—most importantly—engage in various forms of participation.