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Democrat, Republican, or None of the Above? The Role of Religiosity in Muslim American Party Identification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

Matt A. Barreto  and
Dino N. Bozonelos
Matt A. Barreto*
Affiliation:
University of Washington
Dino N. Bozonelos*
Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Matt A. Barreto, Department of Political Science, University of Washington, Box 353530 Seattle, WA 98195. E-mail: mbarreto@washington.edu. Dino Bozonelos, Department of Political Science, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92507. E-mail: dino.bozonelos@email.ucr.edu
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Matt A. Barreto, Department of Political Science, University of Washington, Box 353530 Seattle, WA 98195. E-mail: mbarreto@washington.edu. Dino Bozonelos, Department of Political Science, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92507. E-mail: dino.bozonelos@email.ucr.edu
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Abstract

The role of religiosity as an important predictor of partisan identification has been well researched over the years, with most of our understanding of religion focused on Christianity. However, it is not clear that religiosity operates equally for the partisan identification of non-Christian religious groups. One of the most discussed religious minority groups in the United States today is Muslim-Americans. Numbering between 2.3 million and 7 million, Muslim-Americans have been the focus of considerable debate regarding religion and American political inclusion. We argue that religiosity does influence Muslim-American party identification, however not in the same manner as with other groups. While the two major political parties encourage religiosity among Protestants, Jews, and Catholics, they are either silent or opposed to religiosity among Muslims within their parties. Thus, religiosity among Muslim-Americans may not necessarily lead to partisan identification with either Republicans or Democrats. Rather, high levels of religiosity, coupled with perceptions of discrimination against Muslims, may lead many to oppose both major political parties and instead identify with “none of the above.” This is not to say that Muslim-Americans reject civic engagement or political participation in the United States, but rather the two political parties have not carved out a space to welcome Islam, as they have for Christianity and Judaism. We examine new data from the 2007 Muslim-American Public Opinion Survey to assess the predictors of partisan identification among Muslims in the United States.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 2 , Special Issue 2: Muslims in America , August 2009 , pp. 200 - 229
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2009

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Footnotes

The authors wish to thank Karam Dana, co-principal investigator of the Muslim American Public Opinion Survey who assisted in data collection and also provided valuable feedback on this article. In addition, we received helpful feedback from Amaney Jamal, Natalie Masuoka, Karthick Ramakrishnan, and Saba Ozyurt on an earlier draft of this article. Finally, we are thankful to the anonymous reviewers and editors of this journal for their suggestions that greatly improved this article.

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