Open AccessReligious Voting in Spain and Portugal
Author(s) -
José Ramón Montero Gibert,
Kerman Calvo,
Álvaro Martínez
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
revista internacional de sociología
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.225
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1988-429X
pISSN - 0034-9712
DOI - 10.3989/ris.2008.i51.108
Subject(s) - religiosity , voting , church attendance , politics , attendance , voting behavior , political science , competition (biology) , religious identity , social psychology , political economy , positive economics , sociology , economics , psychology , law , ecology , biology
This article explores the relationship between religiosity and voting decisions in Spain and Portugal. We study whether religion (measured as church attendance and opinions about moral issues) influences voting for the two main political parties. Results show a different relationship between religion and voting in both countries: only in Spain religious beliefs play an important role in electoral behaviour. We claim that to account for this finding several factors need to be considered, namely the different configuration of the party systems and religious maps, the distinctive mechanisms linking religious identities with voting and, above all, the important role played by political leaders in activating religiosity within the electoral competition