Religion's Influence on Politics

• Introduction
• Patterns

Religion's Influence on Politics (Demographic Patterns)

Would you rather see religion have greater influence in politics and public life than it does now, less influence, or about the same influence as it does now?

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Religion's Influence on Politics by Marital status (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	Married and living with your spouse	Separated	Divorced	Widowed	Never married	Missing	TOTAL
Greater influence	29.6% 174	32.1% 9	24.6% 33	21.1% 15	22.2% 40	2	27.1% 271
Less influence	31.0% 182	28.6% 8	44.8% 60	36.6% 26	46.1% 83	3	35.9% 359
About the same influence	37.8% 222	39.3% 11	29.1% 39	39.4% 28	30.6% 55	1	35.5% 355
DK/No opinion	1.5% 9	0.0% 0	1.5% 2	2.8% 2	1.1% 2	0	1.5% 15
Missing	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
TOTAL	100% 587	100% 28	100% 134	100% 71	100% 180	6	1000

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Religion's Influence on Politics by Political party (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	A Democrat	A Republican	An Independent	Other	DK/No opinion	Missing	TOTAL
Greater influence	20.8% 69	38.3% 113	23.3% 77	25.0% 11	66.7% 2	1	27.1% 272
Less influence	48.0% 159	13.6% 40	41.7% 138	52.3% 23	33.3% 1	1	36.0% 361
About the same influence	30.5% 101	46.8% 138	33.2% 110	15.9% 7	0.0% 0	0	35.5% 356
DK/No opinion	0.6% 2	1.4% 4	1.8% 6	6.8% 3	0.0% 0	0	1.5% 15
Missing	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
TOTAL	100% 331	100% 295	100% 331	100% 44	100% 3	2	1004

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Religion's Influence on Politics by Age (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	18-29	30-39	40-49	50-64	65+	Missing	TOTAL
Greater influence	27.6% 35	27.5% 41	30.5% 71	27.8% 87	22.1% 38	1	27.4% 272
Less influence	35.4% 45	36.9% 55	35.2% 82	36.7% 115	35.5% 61	4	36.0% 358
About the same influence	37.0% 47	33.6% 50	33.5% 78	33.5% 105	40.7% 70	6	35.2% 350
DK/No opinion	0.0% 0	2.0% 3	0.9% 2	1.9% 6	1.7% 3	1	1.4% 14
Missing	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
TOTAL	100% 127	100% 149	100% 233	100% 313	100% 172	12	994

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Religion's Influence on Politics by Race (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	White	Black	Hispanic Net	Asian	Other	Missing	TOTAL
Greater influence	27.1% 220	36.8% 25	36.0% 18	7.7% 1	9.8% 5	4	27.0% 269
Less influence	35.7% 290	30.9% 21	36.0% 18	53.8% 7	45.1% 23	3	36.1% 359
About the same influence	35.9% 292	30.9% 21	28.0% 14	38.5% 5	39.2% 20	4	35.4% 352
DK/No opinion	1.4% 11	1.5% 1	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	5.9% 3	0	1.5% 15
Missing	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
TOTAL	100% 813	100% 68	100% 50	100% 13	100% 51	12	995

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Religion's Influence on Politics by Religion (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	Protestant	Catholic	Chst NonPr	Othr NonCh	None/DK	Missing	TOTAL
Greater influence	34.5% 162	26.0% 54	36.5% 38	9.7% 6	5.8% 8	5	27.3% 268
Less influence	29.0% 136	25.0% 52	27.9% 29	67.7% 42	66.7% 92	11	35.8% 351
About the same influence	34.3% 161	48.1% 100	35.6% 37	21.0% 13	26.1% 36	9	35.4% 347
DK/No opinion	2.1% 10	1.0% 2	0.0% 0	1.6% 1	1.4% 2	0	1.5% 15
Missing	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
TOTAL	100% 469	100% 208	100% 104	100% 62	100% 138	25	981

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Religion's Influence on Politics by Education (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	Less HS	Grad HS/TS	Some Cllg	Grad Cllg	Post-Grad	Missing	TOTAL
Greater influence	37.3% 19	28.0% 79	32.6% 93	23.0% 59	16.8% 22	1	27.1% 272
Less influence	27.5% 14	30.5% 86	31.2% 89	43.0% 110	48.1% 63	0	36.0% 362
About the same influence	33.3% 17	39.7% 112	34.4% 98	32.8% 84	34.4% 45	0	35.4% 356
DK/No opinion	2.0% 1	1.8% 5	1.8% 5	1.2% 3	0.8% 1	0	1.5% 15
Missing	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
TOTAL	100% 51	100% 282	100% 285	100% 256	100% 131	1	1005

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Religion's Influence on Politics by Gender (ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005)

	Male	Female	TOTAL
Greater influence	27.8% 147	26.4% 126	27.1% 273
Less influence	34.8% 184	37.3% 178	36.0% 362
About the same influence	35.9% 190	34.8% 166	35.4% 356
DK/No opinion	1.5% 8	1.5% 7	1.5% 15
Missing	0	1	1
TOTAL	100% 529	100% 477	1006

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Notes

ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Springtime Politics, 2005: In this April 2005 ABC News/Washington Post poll, a random national sample of 1,007 Americans was asked to discuss their attitudes and opinions regarding the Social Security investments in the stock market, terrorism, the death penalty, gay marriage, abortion, stem-cell research, and political parties. In addition, the poll also contains questions on Tom Delay, court judge nominations, and how President Bush is handling Social Security, the economy, energy policy, and the situation in Iraq. Demographic variables include: gender, age, race, education, and income.