Brad Carter

Political Science 150

Professor Hawkins

Blog 5

Recently, my roommate recounted an experience of his that made me laugh at first, and then made me think, and then scared me half to death. When my roommate was 15, his extremely conservative father told him that he could not be a democrat and still be a member of the church. While my friend obviously knows that this was a joke now, at the time, he was not sure if his dad was serious. Eventually, he asked his bishop if it really was impossible to be a left leaning saint. When asked, his bishop chuckled and then told him about the churches policy of political neutrality. However, before my friend left his office, the bishop proceeded to tell him about an incident that recently happened in their ward. Apparently, several months prior, an elderly widow asked to meet with the bishop in private about a matter of “utmost importance”. When they met, this sister said that she was deeply concerned about the salvation of her neighbors soul. She then told the bishop that she had recently found out that her neighbor was a Democrat. Perhaps what is most shocking is what came next: “I really think we need to talk seriously about excommunicating him”. 

It is no secret that LDS communities, especially in the Western United States, have a mild to ultra conservative quality, often nearly as intense as the religious fervor that is also present. Although maybe not the case in every community, this is more often the rule than the exception. In fact, according to a survey published in January by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life:

Politically, Mormons are quite conservative...even compared with other people who share some of their demographic characteristics. Two-thirds of Mormons (66%) describe themselves as politically conservative, and three-quarters of Mormon voters (74%) identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. By comparison...37% of U.S. adults describe themselves as conservative (including 40% of white non-Mormons residing in the Mountain West). And 45% of registered voters in the population as a whole (and 60% of white non-Mormons in the Mountain West) identify with the Republican Party.

Statistically speaking, there is a major tenancy in LDS households and Communities to identify with the political right. 

Furthermore, according to an article by ABC news, when political and religious affiliation come in conflict, it is most often the political stance of a candidate that takes priority. “86 percent [of Latter Day Saints] view Romney favorably and 50 percent hold a positive view of another Mormon [Republican] candidate, Jon Huntsman. But considerably less, only 22 percent, are supportive of Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is also a Mormon”.

The Church teaches doctrines that are perfectly at home on both sides of the political spectrum. For example, its teachings about abortion and same-sex marriage are clearly Republican, while the idea that we should help feed and clothe the poor are easily classified as Democratic ideals. However, these findings still beg the question: “Why?”. Why are larger proportions of Saints drawn to the republican party than the national average?

Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff give a possible solution in their book, Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life. In one chapter, the authors discuss the reasons why some neighborhoods suffer from de facto racial segregation. According to their analysis, in any given neighborhood there are three points of equilibrium along a continuum of racial integration. There is a point at 100% white, in which case a black family is extremely unlikely to move in because they may be uncomfortable in a neighborhood where they feel isolated, a second point in an all black neighborhood where the situation is inverted, and a special equilibrium point in the middle (not necessarily at 50%), where a family that moves out of the neighborhood is equally likely to be replaced by a black family or a white family. The reason why this outcome is almost never maintained is because when a black family is replaced by a white family or vice versa, this changes the odds of what the next family will be, thus the neighborhood could very easily be thrown out of balance and become either an all black or all white neighborhood (240-3). 

The same outcomes can occur when we substitute race with political affiliation. Although the political affiliation of LDS communities may have been balanced at one point, random chance has unbalanced the equilibrium and forced LDS communities become almost exclusively conservative, especially in the so called “Jello-Belt”. This analysis supports the idea that LDS political affiliation is more constructivist, however, maybe not in the traditional view. Although many, like the elderly sister in my roommate’s story may feel that being conservative is simply the right thing to do, this evidence shows that the beliefs of our families, our neighbors, and our wards may have much more to do with our political stances than some inherent feature or flaw in our character. If the primordialist view was true, we could expect the distribution of Democrats and Republicans in LDS communities to be much closer to the national average than where it is now.

Works Cited

Dixit, Avinash, and Barry Nalebuff. "Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life." . W. W. Norton & Company, 1993. Book. 

Lugo, Luis, Alan Cooperman, Gregory Smith, Erin O'Connell, and Sandra Stencel. "Mormons in America Certain in Their Beliefs, Uncertain of Their Place in Society." The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. PewResearchCenter, 12 January 2012. Web. 12 Oct 2012.

"Pew Survey: Majority of Mormons Lean Republican; Half Cite Discrimination Against Their Faith." ABC News. N.p., Jan 12, 2012. Web. 12 Oct 2012.