Religion and Politics: How EIU Students View Policy

Through this survey project, it is my intention to analyze the intersection of an individual’s religiosity and their tendency to support or oppose governmental programs and Trump’s political platform. From my personal experience and the information I have attained in my life, the more religious a person is, the more apt they are to hold conservative ideologies. Based on this information, it is safe to assume that the support for liberal-leaning programs would be considerably lower than their non-religious counterparts. However, based on my understanding of religion—specifically the Christian faith—an essential pillar is treating those around you with a love that reflects the love Jesus gives to his followers. Therefore, it should follow that federally funded programs would have an outpouring of support from this population considering they, generally, work to provide assistance to those in a low socio-economic range. This conflicting dichotomy is what encouraged me to study these two topics in conjunction with one another from a sample population at EIU. I am hoping that by evaluating the results of this survey I can gain a finer understanding of the way that religious people affect and are effected by governmental policies