LDS Political Identity

Blog 5: Political Identity

            Politics is a topic that every single person has an opinion on because politics affect each and every one of us. How we develop these opinions can be explained by either a primordialist point of view or a constructivist point of view. This is how we develop our political identity. The majority of LDS members are conservative, or Republican. Data shows that there is a distinct LDS political identity in the United States and that it is mostly accredited to a primordialist argument.

            Political identity is the ways that individuals categorize themselves and others, and how they understand the power relationships of domination and oppression that exists between groups (Samuels). The two main approaches to understanding political identity are primordialism and constructivism. Primordialism assumes that identities are something people are born with or that emerge through deep psychological processes in earl childhood, given one’s family and community context (Samuels). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints stresses the importance of family and community. The church believes very strongly in the importance of being taught in the home. Both the LDS church and the primordialist argument highlight family and community.

            While the LDS church does not advocate any specific party or party member, it does encourage its members to be politically active and involved in government. Many of the churches teachings are conservative and therefore, are parallel to the republican platform. The church and republican party share similar views on important topics such as gay marriage and abortion. In 2011, The Pew Forum conducted a nationwide survey of over 1,000 members of the LDS church. Of those that were polled, 66% responded as being conservative, 22% responded as being moderate and only 8% responded as being liberal (The Pew Forum). Of all those that were polled, 74% said that leaned towards the Republican Party while only 17% leaned towards the Democratic Party (The Pew Forum). It is interesting to compare this to the US general public where 45% lean towards the Republican Party and 48% lean towards the Democratic Party (The Pew Forum). This clearly shows a strong conservative political identity in the LDS community.

Constructivism assumes that political identities are malleable, even if they often appear to be primoridial, and suggest that we think of identity as an evolving political process rather than as a fixed set of identity categories (Samuels). This argument carries little weight as too explaining the LDS political identity. The constructivist argument explains when someone is converted to the LDS church. As they become more involved in the church and more familiar with the church’s teachings, their political identity may change. It also may explain when someone falls away from the LDS church. In this situation someone may also change his or her political identity. However, once someone is established in the church, their political identity won’t change because the doctrines of the church do not change by popular opinion or current trends. The doctrines stay the same.

The teachings that occur in the home and in the church have a strong influence on this. Parents teach their children their conservative views and then the children also grow up learning and believing the church’s doctrine, which is also conservative. This repetition beginning at such a young age helps develop a political identity. This is explained perfectly by the primordialist argument.

Sources

1.     Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. 2012. Mormons in America. January   12. http://www.pewforum.org/Christian/Mormon/mormons-in-america.aspx (accessed October 10, 2012).

2.     Samuels, David J. 2013. Comparative Politics. Minneapolis: Pearson Education.