Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T08:06:14.892Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Will Americans Vote for Muslims? Cultural Outgroup Antipathy, Candidate Religion, and U.S. Voting Behavior

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2018

Kerem Ozan Kalkan ,
Geoffrey C. Layman  and
John C. Green
Kerem Ozan Kalkan*
Affiliation:
Eastern Kentucky University
Geoffrey C. Layman
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame
John C. Green
Affiliation:
University of Akron
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Kerem Ozan Kalkan, Eastern Kentucky University, 521 Lancaster Ave. Beckham 100, Richmond, KY 40475. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We assess how likely Americans are to support political candidates who are Muslim, and the extent to which support for Muslim candidates is structured by “cultural outgroup antipathy”—generalized antipathy targeting cultural outgroups. We employ two survey experiments included in the 2007 and 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Studies that juxtapose a hypothetical state legislative candidate's Muslim faith with Arab ethnicity, African American race, and both Democratic and Republican party affiliation. Identifying a candidate as Muslim significantly reduces voter support and that reduction is largest among people with higher levels of cultural outgroup antipathy. The effect is consistent regardless of whether the candidate is also identified as being Arab or African American or is just presented as a Muslim. We also find that cultural outgroup antipathy diminished electoral support for same-party Muslim candidates among Democrats but not among Republicans.

Type
Article
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 798 - 829
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

We thank Andre Audette, Dave Campbell, Jeremy Castle, Anne Cizmar, Nate Sumaktoyo, and Chris Weaver for helpful comments and criticisms. We thank the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, the Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy at the University of Notre Dame, and the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland for assistance in funding our data collection. Kerem Ozan Kalkan also acknowledges the support he received from EKU University Fellows Program during the 2016–2017 Academic Year that enabled him to focus on this project. Any errors or problems that remain in this work are the sole responsibility of the authors.

*

2084 Jenkins Nanovic Halls Notre Dame, IN 46556. Phone: 574-631-0379.

†

Olin 325 Akron, OH 44325. Phone: 330-972-5182.

References

Adorno, Theodor W., Frenkel-Brunswick, Else, Levinson, Daniel J., and Nevitt Sanford, R.. 1950. The Authoritarian Personality. New York, NY: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Allport, Gordon. 1954. The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Altemeyer, Robert. 1988. Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right-Wing Authoritarianism. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc Publications.Google Scholar
Arceneaux, Kevin, and Vander Wielen, Ryan J.. 2013. “The Effects of Need for Cognition and Need for Affect on Partisan Evaluations.” Political Psychology 34(1):23–42.Google Scholar
Barreto, Matt, and Bozonelos, Dino. 2009. “Democrat, Republican, or None of the Above? The Role of Religiosity in Muslim American Party Identification.” Politics and Religion 2(2):220–229.Google Scholar
Berelson, Bernard R., Lazarsfeld, Paul F., and McPhee, William N.. 1954. Voting: A Study of Opinion Formation in A Presidential Campaign. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Berinsky, Adam J., Huber, Gregory A., and Lenz, Gabriel S.. 2012. “Evaluating Online Labor Markets for Experimental Research: Amazon. Com's Mechanical Turk.” Political Analysis 20(3):351–368.Google Scholar
Berinsky, Adam J., and Mendelberg, Tali. 2005. “The Indirect Effects of Discredited Stereotypes in Judgments of Jewish Leaders.” American Journal of Political Science 49(4):845–864.Google Scholar
Bolce, Louis, and De Maio, Gerald. 1999. “The Anti-Christian Fundamentalist Factor in Contemporary Politics.” Public Opinion Quarterly 63(4):508–542.Google Scholar
Bolce, Louis, and De Maio, Gerald. 2008. “A Prejudice for the Thinking Classes.” American Politics Research 36(2):155–185.Google Scholar
Brady, Henry E., and Sniderman, Paul M.. 1985. “Attitude Attribution: A Group Basis for Political Reasoning.” The American Political Science Review 79(4):1061–1078.Google Scholar
Brewer, Paul R. 2008. Value war: Public Opinion and the Politics of Gay Rights. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc.Google Scholar
Burge, Ryan P., and Djupe, Paul A.. 2017. “American Muslims: The Core of the Democratic Party?”. URL: https://religioninpublic.blog/2017/10/09/american-muslims-the-core-of-the-democratic-party/Google Scholar
Campbell, Angus, Converse, Philip E., Miller, Warren E., and Stokes, Donald E.. 1960. The American Voter. New York, NY: Wiley.Google Scholar
Campbell, Rosie, and Cowley, Philip. 2014. “What Voters Want: Reactions to Candidate Characteristics in A Survey Experiment.” Political Studies 62(4):745–765.Google Scholar
Campbell, David E., Green, John C., and Layman, Goeffrey C.. 2011. “The Party Faithful: Partisan Images, Candidate Religion, and the Electoral Impact of Party Identification.” American Journal of Political Science 55(1):42–58.Google Scholar
Campbell, David E., Green, John C., and Quin Monson, J.. 2012. “The Stained Glass Ceiling: Social Contact and Mitt Romney's “Religion Problem”.” Political Behavior 34(2):277–299.Google Scholar
Carol, Sarah, Helbling, Marc, and Michalowski, Ines. 2015. “A Struggle Over Religious Rights? How Muslim Immigrants and Christian Natives View the Accommodation of Religion in Six European Countries.” Social Forces 94(2):647–671.Google Scholar
Cizmar, Anne M, Layman, Geoffrey C., McTague, John, Pearson-Merkowitz, Shanna, and Spivey, Michael. 2013. “Authoritarianism and American Political Behavior From 1952 to 2008.” Political Research Quarterly 67(1):71–83.Google Scholar
Conover, Pamela Johnston, and Feldman, Stanley. 1984. “How People Organize the Political World: A Schematic Model.” American Journal of Political Science 28(1):95–126.Google Scholar
Converse, Philip E. 1964. “The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics.” In Ideology and Discontent, ed. Apter, David E.. New York, NY: Free Press, 206–261.Google Scholar
Converse, Philip E. 1966. “Religion and Politics: The 1960 Election.” In Elections and the Political Order, ed. Campbell, Angus, Converse, Philip E., Miller, Warren E. and Stokes, Donald E.. New York, NY: Wiley, 96–124.Google Scholar
Davis, Darren W. 2007. Negative Liberty: Public Opinion and the Terrorist Attacks on America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Davis, Darren W., and Silver, Brian. 2004. “Civil Liberties vs. Security: Public Opinion in the Context of the Terrorist Attacks on America.” American Journal of Political Science 48(1):28–46.Google Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Green, John C.. 2007. The Politics of American Muslims. In From Pews to Polling Places, ed. Wilson, J. Matthew. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 213–250.Google Scholar
Dolan, Kathleen. 1998. “Voting for Women in the” Year of the Woman”.” American Journal of Political Science 42(1):272–293.Google Scholar
Duckitt, John, and Fisher, Kirstin. 2003. “The Impact of Social Threat on Worldview and Ideological Attitudes.” Political Psychology 24(1):199–222.Google Scholar
Gilens, Martin. 2000. Why Americans Hate Welfare. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Green, John C. 2007. The Faith Factor: How Religion Influences American Elections. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.Google Scholar
Green, Donald, Palmquist, Bradley, and Schickler, Eric. 2002. Partisan Hearts and Minds. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Hetherington, Marc, and Weiler, Jonathan. 2009. Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Huddy, Leonie, Feldman, Stanley, Taber, Charles, and Lahav, Gallya. 2005. “Threat, Anxiety, and Support of Antiterrorism Policies.” American Journal of Political Science 49(3):593–608.Google Scholar
Huddy, Leonie, and Terkildsen, Nayda. 1993. “The Consequences of Gender Stereotypes for Women Candidates at Different Levels and Types of Office.” Political Research Quarterly 46(3):503.Google Scholar
Jamal, Amaney. 2010. “Muslim Americans: Enriching or Depleting American Democracy?” In Religion and Democracy in the United States: Danger or Opportunity?, eds. Wolfe, Alan and Katznelson, Ira. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 89–113.Google Scholar
Kalkan, Kerem Ozan. 2016. “What Differentiates Trump Supporters From Other Republicans? Ethnocentrism.”. URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/02/28/what-differentiates-trump-supporters-from-other-republicans-ethnocentrism/?utm_term=.a7c20c94b244Google Scholar
Kalkan, Kerem Ozan, Layman, Geoffrey C., and Uslaner, Eric M.. 2009. ““Bands of Others”? Attitudes Toward Muslims in Contemporary American Society.” Journal of Politics 71(3):847–862.Google Scholar
Kam, Cindy D., and Kinder, Donald R.. 2007. “Terror and Ethnocentrism: Foundations of American Support for the War on Terrorism.” Journal of Politics 69(2):320–338.Google Scholar
Kam, Cindy D., and Kinder, Donald R.. 2012. “Ethnocentrism as A Short-Term Force in the 2008 American Presidential Election.” American Journal of Political Science 56(2):326–340.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Dale-Riddle, Allison. 2012. The End of Race?: Obama, 2008, and Racial Politics in America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Kam, Cindy. 2009. Us Against Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Public Opinion. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Sanders, Lynn M.. 1996. Divided by Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Layman, Geoffrey. 2001. The Great Divide: Religious and Cultural Conflict in American Party Politics. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Layman, Geoffrey C., Ozan Kalkan, Kerem, and Green, John C.. 2014. “A Muslim President? Misperceptions of Barack Obama's Faith in the 2008 Presidential Campaign.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 53(3):534–555.Google Scholar
Lewis-Beck, Michael S., Jacoby, William G., Norpoth, Helmut, and Weisberg, Herbert F.. 2008. The American Voter Revisited. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Lindstädt, René, and Vander Wielen, Ryan J.. 2014. “Dynamic Elite Partisanship: Party Loyalty and Agenda Setting in the US House.” British Journal of Political Science 44(04):741–772.Google Scholar
Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1959. Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.Google Scholar
McDermott, Monika L. 1997. “Voting Cues in Low-Information Elections: Candidate Gender as A Social Information Variable in Contemporary United States Elections.” American Journal of Political Science 41(1):270–283.Google Scholar
McDermott, Monika L. 2007. “Voting for Catholic Candidates: The Evolution of A Stereotype*.” Social Science Quarterly 88(4):953–969.Google Scholar
Miller, Arthur H., Wlezien, Christopher, and Hildreth, Ann. 1991. “A Reference Group Theory of Partisan Coalitions.” The Journal of Politics 53(4):1134–1149.Google Scholar
Panagopoulos, Costas. 2006. “The Polls-Trends: Arab and Muslim Americans and Islam in the Aftermath of 9/11.” Public Opinion Quarterly 70(4):608.Google Scholar
Payton, Mark E., Greenstone, Matthew H., and Schenker, Nathaniel. 2003. “Overlapping Confidence Intervals or Standard Error Intervals: What do They Mean in Terms of Statistical Significance?” Journal of Insect Science 3(1):34.Google Scholar
Popkin, Samuel L. 1991. The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sanbonmatsu, Kira. 2002. “Gender Stereotypes and Vote Choice.” American Journal of Political Science 46(1):20–34.Google Scholar
Sides, John, and Tesler, Michael S.. 2016. “How Political Science Helps Explain the Rise of Trump: The Tole of White Identity and Grievances.”. URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/03/03/how-political-science-helps-explain-the-rise-of-trump-the-role-of-white-identity-an?utm_term=.e81b27a0f39aGoogle Scholar
Sigelman, Carol K., Sigelman, Lee, Walkosz, Barbara J., and Nitz, Michael. 1995. “Black Candidates, White Voters: Understanding Racial Bias in Political Perceptions.” American Journal of Political Science 39(1):243–265.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul, and Hagendoorn, Louk. 2007. When Ways of Life Collide: Multiculturalism and Its Discontent in the Netherlands. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Tajfel, Henri. 1982. “Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations.” Annual Review of Psychology 33(1):1–39.Google Scholar
Tesler, Michael S. 2016. Post Racial or Most Racial? Race and Politics in the Obama Era. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Tesler, Michael, and Sears, David O.. 2010. Obama's Race: The 2008 Election and the Dream of A Post-Racial America. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth. 2009. Who Counts as an American? The Boundaries of National Identity. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar