Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-30T23:30:24.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Diffusion of Environmental Concerns in Congregations across U.S. States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Paul A. Djupe  and
Laura R. Olson
Paul A. Djupe
Affiliation:
Denison University
Laura R. Olson
Affiliation:
Clemson University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Most American congregations belong to denominations. These national networks often promote relevant political issues that constituent congregations may choose to address. Therefore, religious organizations might play a significant role in promoting the process of policy diffusion in the U.S. states. At the same time, congregations are tradition-maintaining institutions that focus first on their own immediate concerns, promoting the maintenance of distinctive regional political contexts and reinforcing the variation of federalism. In this article, we assess the role that religious organizations play in American federal democracy, promoting diffusion or the status quo, with respect to one crucial issue on which religious groups have been particularly vocal: the environment and global warming. We employ two datasets (a large-N national survey and two in-depth survey case studies of clergy in Ohio and South Carolina) and find evidence that religious organizations are vast communication networks that can promote policy diffusion, but typically do not.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , Fall 2010 , pp. 270 - 301
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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.)

References

Ammerman, Nancy Tatom. 2005. Pillars of Faith: American Congregations and their Partners. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Balla, Steven J. 2001. “Interstate Professional Associations and the Diffusion of Policy Innovations.” American Politics Research 29:221–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, Penny Edgell. 1999. Congregations in Conflict: Cultural Models of Local Religious Life. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, Frances Stokes, and Berry, William D.. 1990. “State Lottery Adoptions as Policy Innovations: An Event History Analysis.” American Political Science Review 84:395–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brehm, John, and Gates, Scott. 1997. Working, Shirking, and Sabotage: Bureaucratic Response to a Democratic Public. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cadge, Wendy, Olson, Laura R., and Wildeman, Christopher. 2008. “How Denominational Resources Influence Debates about Homosexuality in Mainline Protestant Congregations.” Sociology of Religion 69:187–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calfano, Brian R. 2009. “Choosing Constituent Cues: Reference Group Influence on Clergy Political Speech.” Social Science Quarterly 90:88–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calhoun-Brown, Allison. 1996. “African-American Churches and Political Mobilization: The Psychological Impact of Organizational Resources.” The Journal of Politics 58:935–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cavendish, James C. 2001. “To March or Not to March: Clergy Mobilization Strategies and Grassroots Antidrug Activism.” In Christian Clergy in American Politics, eds., Crawford, Sue E. S. and Olson, Laura R.. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Chaves, Mark, Konieczny, Mary Ellen, Beyerlein, Kraig, and Barman, Emily. 1999. “The National Congregations Study: Background, Methods, and Selected Results.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 38:458–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, Christopher A., Nownes, Anthony J., and Roberts, Steven. 2005. “Perceptions of Power: Interest Groups in Local Politics.” State and Local Government Review 37:206–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, Sue E. S., and Olson, Laura R., eds. 2001. Christian Clergy in American Politics. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Calfano, Brian R.. 2009. “Justification Not by Faith Alone: Clergy Generating Trust and Certainty by Revealing Thought.” Politics and Religion 2:1–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Gilbert, Christopher P.. 2003. The Prophetic Pulpit: Clergy, Churches, and Communities in American Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Gilbert, Christopher P.. 2008. “Politics in Church: Byproduct or Central Mission?” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 47:45–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Gilbert, Christopher P.. 2009. The Political Influence of Churches. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Gwiasda, Gregory W.. 2010. “Evangelizing the Environment: Decision Process Effects in Political Persuasion.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 49:73–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Tobin Grant, J.. 2001. “Religious Institutions and Political Participation in America.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40:303–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Neiheisel, Jacob R.. 2008. “Clergy Deliberation on Gay Rights and Homosexuality.” Polity 40:411–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Niles, Franklyn C.. 2010. “Prophets in the Wilderness: An Ecology of Ministerial Organization Representation in Public Affairs.” Politics and Religion 3:150–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djupe, Paul A., and Olson, Laura R.. 2007. “A Meditation on and Meta-analysis of the Public Presence of Religious Interests.” In Religious Interests in Community Conflict: Beyond the Culture Wars, eds., Djupe, Paul A. and Olson, Laura R.. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York, NY: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Elazar, Daniel J. 1984. American Federalism: A View from the States. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Crowell.Google Scholar
Elazar, Daniel. 1994. The American Mosaic: The Impact of Space, Time, and Culture on American Politics. Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Elshtain, Jean Bethke. 1981. Public Man, Private Woman: Women in Social and Political Thought. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Finke, Roger, and Stark, Rodney. 1992. The Churching of America 1776–1990: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Fischer, David Hackett. 1989. Albion's Seed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fowler, Robert Booth. 1995. The Greening of Protestant Thought. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Fowler, Robert Booth, Hertzke, Allen D., Olson, Laura R., and den Dulk, Kevin R.. 2004. Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture, and Strategic Choices, 3rd ed. Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Freeman, Patricia K. 1985. “Interstate Communication among State Legislators Regarding Energy Policy Innovation.” Publius 15:99–111.Google Scholar
Gelman, Andrew, Park, David, Shor, Boris, Bafumi, Joseph, and Cortina, Jeronimo. 2008. Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Gilbert, Christopher P. 1993. The Impact of Churches on Political Behavior: An Empirical Study. Westport, CT: Greenwood.Google Scholar
Goodstein, Laurie. 2005. “Evangelical Leaders Swing Influence Behind Effort to Combat Global Warming.” The New York Times, March 10, A16.Google Scholar
Gray, Virginia. 1973. “Innovation in the States: A Diffusion Study.” American Political Science Review 67:1174–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, Virginia. 1994. “Competition, Emulation, and Policy Innovation.” In New Perspectives on American Politics, eds., Dodd, Lawrence C. and Jillson, Calvin. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Gray, Virginia, and Lowery, David. 1996. The Population Ecology of Interest Representation: Lobbying Communities in the American States. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, John C. 2007. The Faith Factor: How Religion Influences American Elections. Westport, CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Guth, James L., Green, John C., Kellstedt, Lyman A., and Smidt, Corwin E.. 1995. “Faith and the Environment: Religious Beliefs and Attitudes on Environmental Policy.” American Journal of Political Science 39:364–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guth, James L., Green, John C., Smidt, Corwin E., Kellstedt, Lyman A., and Poloma, Margaret M.. 1997. The Bully Pulpit: The Politics of Protestant Clergy. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
Hadden, Jeffrey K. 1969. The Gathering Storm in the Churches. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Hager, Mark A., Wilson, Sarah, Pollak, Thomas H., and Rooney, Patrick Michael. 2003. “Response Rates for Mail Surveys of Nonprofit Organizations: A Review and Empirical Test.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 32:252–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herberg, Will. 1955. Protestant, Catholic, Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Hero, Rodney E. 1998. Faces of Inequality: Social Diversity in American Politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hero, Rodney E. 2007. Racial Diversity and Social Capital: Equality and Community in America New York, NY: Cambridge University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hero, Rodney E., and Tolbert, Carolyn J.. 1996. “A Racial/Ethnic Diversity Interpretation of the Politics and Policy of the States of the U.S.” American Journal of Political Science 40:851–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hertzke, Allen D. 1988. Representing God in Washington: The Role of Religious Lobbies in the American Polity. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.Google Scholar
Hill, Samuel S. 1985. “Religion and Region in America.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 480:132–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofrenning, Daniel J. B. 1995. In Washington but Not of It: The Prophetic Politics of Religious Lobbyists. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Janofsky, Michael. 2005. “When Cleaner Air is a Biblical Obligation.” The New York Times, November 7, A18.Google Scholar
Jelen, Ted G. 1992. “Political Christianity: A Contextual Analysis.” American Journal of Political Science 36:692–714.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, Dale E., Doty, Sherry, Grammich, Clifford, Horsch, James E., Houseal, Richard, Lynn, Mac, Marcum, John P., Sanchagrin, Kenneth M., and Taylor, Richard H.. 2002. Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States 2000: An Enumeration by Region, State, and County Based on Data Reported for 149 Religious Bodies. Nashville, TN: Glenmary Research Center.Google Scholar
Kellstedt, Lyman A., Green, John C., Guth, James L., and Smidt, Corwin E.. 1996. “Grasping the Essentials: The Social Embodiment of Religion and Political Behavior.” In Religion and the Culture Wars: Dispatches from the Front, eds., Green, John C., Guth, James L., Smidt, Corwin E., and Kellstedt, Lyman A.. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Layman, Geoffrey. 2001. The Great Divide: Religious and Cultural Conflict in American Party Politics. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Lieske, Joel. 1993. “Regional Subcultures of the United States.” The Journal of Politics 55:888–913.Google Scholar
Lieske, Joel. 2010. “The Changing Regional Subcultures of the American States and the Utility of a New Cultural Measure.” Political Research Quarterly, forthcoming.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowery, David, and Sigelman, Lee. 1982. “Political Culture and State Public Policy: The Missing Link.” Western Political Quarterly 35:376–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marty, Martin E. 1970. Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America. New York, NY: Dial.Google Scholar
Mintrom, Michael. 1997. “Policy Entrepreneurs and the Diffusion of Innovation.” American Journal of Political Science 41:738–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mintrom, Michael, and Vergari, Sandra. 1998. “Policy Networks and Innovation Diffusion: The Case of State Education Reforms.” The Journal of Politics 60:126–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mohr, Lawrence B. 1969. “Determinants of Innovation in Organizations.” American Political Science Review 63:111–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moody, Michael. 2002. “Caring for Creation: Environmental Advocacy by Mainline Protestant Organizations.” In The Quiet Hand of God: Faith-Based Activism and the Public Role of Mainline Protestantism, eds., Wuthnow, Robert and Evans, John H.. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Mooney, Christopher Z. 2001. “Modeling Regional Effects on State Policy Difusion.” Political Research Quarterly 54:103–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, Aldon D. 1984. The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement: Black Communities Organizing for Change. New York, NY: Free Press.Google Scholar
National Association of Evangelicals. 2004. “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility.” http://nae.net/images/civic_responsibility2.pdf. (May 15, 2007).Google Scholar
Neiheisel, Jacob R., and Djupe, Paul A.. 2008. “Intraorganizational Constraints on Churches' Public Witness.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 47:427–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neiheisel, Jacob R., Djupe, Paul A., and Sokhey, Anand E.. 2009. “Veni, Vidi, Disseri: Churches and the Promise of Democratic Deliberation.” American Politics Research 37:614–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olson, Laura R. 2000. Filled with Spirit and Power: Protestant Clergy in Politics. New York, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Parsons, Talcott. 1937. The Structure of Social Action. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. 1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Quinley, Harold E. 1974. The Prophetic Clergy: Social Activism among Protestant Ministers. New York, NY: Wiley.Google Scholar
Raudenbush, Stephen W., and Bryk, Anthony S.. 2002. Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Sharkansky, Ira. 1969. “The Utility of Elazar's Political Culture.” Polity 2:66–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sherkat, Darren E., and Ellison, Christopher G.. 2007. “Structuring the Religion-Environment Connection: Identifying Religious Influences on Environmental Concern and Activism.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 46:71–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shipan, Charles R., and Volden, Craig. 2006. “Bottom-Up Federalism: The Diffusion of Anti-Smoking Policies from U.S. Cities to States.” American Journal of Political Science 50:825–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shipan, Charles R., and Volden, Craig. 2008. “The Mechanisms of Policy Diffusion.” American Journal of Political Science 52:840–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steenbergen, Marco R., and Jones, Bradford S.. 2002. “Modeling Multilevel Data Structures.” American Journal of Political Science 46:218–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steensland, Brian, Park, Jerry Z., Regnerus, Mark D., Robinson, Lynn D., Bradford Wilcox, W., and Woodberry, Robert D.. 2000. “The Measure of American Religion: Toward Improving the State of the Art.” Social Forces 79:291–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teodoro, Manuel P. 2009. “Bureaucratic Job Mobility and the Diffusion of Innovations.” American Journal of Political Science 53:175–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verba, Sidney, Schlozman, Kay Lehman, and Brady, Henry E.. 1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Volden, Craig. 2006. “States as Policy Laboratories: Emulating Success in the Children's Health Insurance Program.” American Journal of Political Science 50:294–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wald, Kenneth D., Owen, Dennis E., and Hill, Samuel S.. 1988. “Churches as Political Communities.” American Political Science Review 82:531–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, Jack L. 1969. “The Diffusion of Innovations among the American States.” American Political Science Review 63:880–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, Ronald E., and Shaffer, William R.. 1972. “Public Opinion and American State Policy-Making.” Midwest Journal of Political Science 16:683–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welch, Michael R., Leege, David C., Wald, Kenneth D., and Kellstedt, Lyman A.. 1993. “Are the Sheep Hearing the Shepherds? Cue Perceptions, Congregational Responses, and Political Communication Processes.” In Rediscovering the Religious Factor in American Politics, eds., Leege, David C. and Kellstedt, Lyman A.. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
White, Lynn Jr. 1967. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis.” Science 155:1203–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wildavsky, Aaron. 1987. “Choosing Preferences by Constructing Institutions: A Cultural Theory of Preference Formation.” American Political Science Review 81:3–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witte, John Jr. 2000. Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment: Essential Rights and Liberties, 2nd ed. Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Wuthnow, Robert. 1988. The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and Faith since World War II. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wuthnow, Robert, and Evans, John H., eds. 2002. The Quiet Hand of God: Faith-Based Activism and the Public Role of Mainline Protestantism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamane, David. 2005. The Catholic Church in State Politics: Negotiating Prophetic Demands and Political Realities. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Zaller, John R. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar