Church Voting Recommendations, Voter Preferences, and Political Decisions

In Switzerland, two key church institutions—the Conference of Swiss Bishops and the Federation of Protestant Churches—make public recommendations on how to vote for certain referenda. We leverage this situation to directly measure religious organizations’ power to reflect and shape human decision ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the scientific study of religion
Authors: Torgler, Benno 1972- (Author) ; Portmann, Marco 1984- (Author) ; Stadelmann, David 1982- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2020]
In: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Catholic church, Schweizer Bischofskonferenz / Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche Schweiz / Wahlempfehlung / Electoral college / Religiosity / Election behavior
RelBib Classification:CG Christianity and Politics
KBC Switzerland
ZC Politics in general
Further subjects:B Voting
B Religion
B rules of thumb
B referenda
B Trust
B Power
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Description
Summary:In Switzerland, two key church institutions—the Conference of Swiss Bishops and the Federation of Protestant Churches—make public recommendations on how to vote for certain referenda. We leverage this situation to directly measure religious organizations’ power to reflect and shape human decision making. That is, using a direct measure of voters’ commitment to their religious institution, we analyze whether they are more likely to vote in line with this organization's voting recommendation. We find that these recommendations do indeed wield influence, implying that even in a secularized world, religion plays a crucial role in voting decisions. Our results hold for both aggregate and individual-level voting decisions.
ISSN:1468-5906
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12669