Religious Politics: An Individual Level-Examination Of The Political Implications Of Faith In Brazil

Although Brazil is, historically, a catholic country, the Catholic Church is losing its members to the Protestant churches, mainly Pentecostal ones. Between 1940-2010, the number of Protestants increased from 2.6% to 20.2%. On the other hand, between the same period, the number of Catholics decreased from 95% to 68.5%. One of the consequences of this shift in the religious marketplace has been its impact in the political realm; more specifically, in the number of political candidates that have identified themselves as evangélicos. The presence of evangélicos in power seems to be the most studied facet of the growth of Pentecostalism in Brazil. However, the literature would also benefit from the investigation of the consequences of this shift occurring in the religious marketplace at the individual-level. Here, I use data from the LAPOP (2010) to investigate the effects of religiosity, paying special attention to Pentecostalism, on political behavior and attitudes. This dissertation is divided in three parts. First, I draw demographic patterns between members of the major religious groups (Catholics, Pentecostal and mainline Protestants). Second, I test how religious variables (religious affiliation, church attendance, and devoutness) affect different measures of political participation. And lastly, I analyze how religiosity affects individuals' perceptions of democracy. My findings suggest that religion is mostly not correlated to political outcomes although devoutness shows to be a strong factor determining attitudes toward democracy. In the case of Brazil, socioeconomic variables are the strongest predictors of political outcomes.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D. in Political Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Moreira, Thatianne A.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Alice H. Cooper
• Gregory Love
• Robert Albritton

• Political Science

Repository record dc:identifier

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/785

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:egrove.olemiss.edu:etd-1784