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Faith and the Free Market: Evangelicals, the Tea Party, and Economic Attitudes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2016

Melissa Deckman ,
Dan Cox ,
Robert Jones  and
Betsy Cooper
Melissa Deckman*
Affiliation:
Washington College
Dan Cox*
Affiliation:
Public Religion Research Institute
Robert Jones*
Affiliation:
Public Religion Research Institute
Betsy Cooper*
Affiliation:
Public Religion Research Institute
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Melissa Deckman, Department of Political Science, Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620. E-mail: [email protected]; or to: Dan Cox, Research Director, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected]; or to Robert Jones, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected]; or to Betsy Cooper, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected].
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Melissa Deckman, Department of Political Science, Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620. E-mail: [email protected]; or to: Dan Cox, Research Director, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected]; or to Robert Jones, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected]; or to Betsy Cooper, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected].
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Melissa Deckman, Department of Political Science, Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620. E-mail: [email protected]; or to: Dan Cox, Research Director, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected]; or to Robert Jones, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected]; or to Betsy Cooper, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected].
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Melissa Deckman, Department of Political Science, Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620. E-mail: [email protected]; or to: Dan Cox, Research Director, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected]; or to Robert Jones, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected]; or to Betsy Cooper, Public Religion Research Institute, 2027 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

We argue that concerted efforts by Tea Party leaders, Republican politicians, and leading Christian Right figures to establish and promote a connection between Christian faith and the free-market system has helped shift the economic attitudes of white evangelical Protestants in a more conservative direction. Our analysis of Public Religion Research Institute survey data finds that white evangelical Protestants express greater skepticism about an active role of government in society and believe economic growth is more likely to be spurred by a reduction in taxes rather than in public investments. Moreover, we find that identifying with the Tea Party has a conservatizing influence on their economic issue positions. While we find that partisanship, class, and in some cases, age, serve to modify the views of some evangelicals, by and large, evangelicals have come to embrace the conservative fiscal message promoted by both the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , March 2017 , pp. 82 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2016 

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