"Does religion matter? Christianity and public attitudes toward the European Union"

Does religion matter politically in Europe? Mac Iver (1989) raises the possibility that religious tradition (i.e., Catholic vs. Protestant) may affect attitudes toward the EC, but her data set did not have the denominational variable needed to test this hypothesis. Mac Iver's study leads us to believe that religion may be important to individual attitudes toward integration, adding power to analyses focusing on ideology, political mobilization, and demographic factors. How important is religion in this mix? Can a systematic explanation for attitudes be developed? This study addresses these questions. We begin with a discussion of how we might expect religion to affect attitudes toward integration. Next, we turn to a multivariate examination of religious factors and other variables that have been credited with influencing attitudes toward integration. Then we test these same hypotheses in individual member states. Finally, we close with some observations on the role of religion in shaping European opinion and suggest some lines for further research