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Mobilizing the Religious Left: Linking the Movement to Individual Political Activity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2021

Kimberly H. Conger
Kimberly H. Conger*
Affiliation:
University of Cincinnati
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Kimberly H. Conger, Political Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH. E-mail: kimberly.conger@uc.edu
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Abstract

The contemporary Religious Left (RL) in the United States has proven to be somewhat of an enigma, both for academics and for the activists and voters who desire such a movement to thrive. In this paper, I look at one piece of the puzzle: is the RL able to mobilize supporters to political activity? Combining data from both the individual and movement level, this paper tests whether activity at the movement level of the RL can translate into individual supporters' political activity. Using existing data for 2008 and newly collected data on the RL in the 2016 election cycle, I find that the movement was successful in mobilizing constituents in 2008, but not in 2016. This can be linked to the Democrats' effort to engage religious voters in 2008, and its inability to do so in 2016.

Type
Article
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 197 - 214
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

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