Confessional culture, religiosity, and traditionalism: tracing the influence of religion on public attitudes towards European integration

Abstract

ABSTRACTReligion has long played an important role in the European integration process. Here we review competing confessional visions of ‘Europe’ and summarise empirical findings on their influence on public support for the European Union (EU). In the EU’s early years Catholics – especially if observant – consistently favoured integration more than Protestants, a deep-seated difference that survived statistical controls for other factors. In recent years, however, religion’s impact has changed: (1) religiosity has replaced confessional identity as the most influential religious factor, as the devout in all traditions favour the EU; (2) religious traditionalism, previously tied to religiosity, now plays an independent role, with those defending the authority of the Bible and other traditional forms of religious guidance more sceptical of the EU; and (3) continuing secularisation has eroded support for the EU, both by reducing the ranks of the religious and by ‘decoupling’ religious influences from integration attitudes, especially among the young. We examine these changes in an analysis of the 2019 European Election Study.KEYWORDS: Confessional culturesEuropean Unionintegrationreligiosityreligious traditionalism Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. Both data sets used in this analysis are publicly available and unrestricted.2. As we anticipated above, the correlation is higher among those respondents actually asked the traditionalism question (r = .44).3. We have not used interactive terms for Other Religions or Muslims, given their small numbers.Additional informationNotes on contributorsBrent F. NelsenBrent F. Nelsen is Jane Fishburne Hipp Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Furman University. He received his BA from Wheaton College (IL) and his MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His teaching and scholarship focus on Europe and the European Union with an emphasis on religion and politics. His most recent book, co-authored with James L. Guth, is Religion and the Struggle for European Union: Confessional Culture and the Limits of Integration (Georgetown University Press). Recently he was appointed Interim Director of the Tocqueville Center for the Study of Democracy and Society.James L. GuthJames L. Guth (B.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison; Ph. D. Harvard University) is William R. Kenan Professor of Politics and International Affairs and Distinguished Scholar in the Tocqueville Center at Furman University. He is the author or co-author of several books and dozens of scholarly articles on the role of religion in American and European politics. His current research focuses on religious influences on populist politics, public environmental attitudes, and foreign policy issues. In September 2023 he received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the Religion and Politics Division of the American Political Science Association.