Chapter 7 - Religious Immunity

Summary

Chapter 7 analyses the reactions of Christian voters and the extent to which they are determined by supply-side actors such as the mainstream parties and churches. Particular attention is paid to the empirical finding that irreligious voters in Germany were much more drawn to the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) than Christians. This ‘religious immunity’ of German Protestants and Catholics appeared to be partly the result of demand-side factors, such as attitudes or theological beliefs, but mainly dependent on supply-side factors such as the availability of a ‘Christian alterative’ in the German party system as well as the behaviour of the institutional churches, which through their clear and public condemnation of the AfD’s use of religion appear to have created a powerful social taboo surrounding the AfD.