Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election. (25th January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Whitehead, Andrew L; Perry, Samuel L; Baker, Joseph O
• Is Part Of: Sociology of religion. Volume 79:Number 2(2018:Summer)
• Page Start: 147
• Page End: 171
• Publication Date: 2018-01-25
• Subjects: Christian nationalism -- 2016 presidential election -- Donald Trump -- voting -- xenophobia -- Islamophobia -- sexism; Religion and sociology -- Periodicals; Religion and sociology; Periodicals; 306.6
• DOI: 10.1093/socrel/srx070
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1069-4404

Abstract

Abstract: Why did Americans vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential election? Social scientists have proposed a variety of explanations, including economic dissatisfaction, sexism, racism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia. The current study establishes that, independent of these influences, voting for Trump was, at least for many Americans, a symbolic defense of the United States' perceived Christian heritage. Data from a national probability sample of Americans surveyed soon after the 2016 election shows that greater adherence to Christian nationalist ideology was a robust predictor of voting for Trump, even after controlling for economic dissatisfaction, sexism, anti-black prejudice, anti-Muslim refugee attitudes, and anti-immigrant sentiment, as well as measures of religion, sociodemographics, and political identity more generally. These findings indicate that Christian nationalist ideology—although correlated with a variety of class-based, sexist, racist, and ethnocentric views—is not synonymous with, reducible to, or strictly epiphenomenal of such views. Rather, Christian nationalism operates as a unique and independent ideology that can influence political actions by calling forth a defense of mythological narratives about America's distinctively Christian heritage and future.