We investigate the conditions under which members practice politically relevant civic skills in church, generating a base of resourceful citizens equipped for political activity. Previous research has considered congregations to be black boxes, with sometimes unspecified and almost always untested processes operating to encourage civic skill development. In contrast, we conceptualize churches as diverse organizations and find evidence that the social homogeneity of church-based small groups allows for greater individual skill development. Moreover, members direct their energies toward the church and skill development when they are socially isolated from their communities. We also test the efficacy of clergy to promote skill development, finding mixed evidence. Overall, we find considerable support justifying the decision to open the black box and investigate the varied ways in which churches promote the acquisition of civic skills.

Previous research on religious institutions and political participation finds that churches can increase participation among their members through the development of civic skills and the distinct political histories of religious traditions. This paper examines the various ways religious institutions promote the political participation of their members. We utilize the 1990 Citizen Participation Study to test seven hypotheses about the connections between religious institutions and political participation. We find, contrary to previous work, that church-gained civic skills and religious tradition do not directly affect political participation among those currently active in religious institutions. Rather, churches bring their parishioners more effectively into the political process through the recruitment of members to politics and when members come to see their church activity as having political consequences.

Whether clergy are influencing opinions, setting agendas, mobilizing, or empowering parishioners, the primary mechanism is public speech. Using a national sample of 2,400 ELCA (Lutheran) and Episcopal Church clergy, surveyed in the late summer and fall of 1998, we explore the nature, frequency, and determinants of clergy public speech. We find that clergy public speech is relatively pervasive and conveys a significant amount of normative judgments about the workings of the policy process. In assessing its determinants, we find that clergy public speech is a product of personal motivation situated in an environment conducive to action, which includes the pressures exerted by the congregation, national political cues, and community. Specifically, we find that clergy speak out publicly on political issues when mobilized, but also as a way to represent their congregations in the public sphere and to motivate members to add their distinctive voices to public debate.Whether clergy are influencing the opinions, setting the agendas, mobilizing, or empowering parishioners, the primary mechanism is public speech. Consequently, numerous studies have examined the nature, frequency, and ability of clergy to speak their minds to their members and the public (Crawford and Stark, Foster, Glock, and Quinley 1971). Scholars have observed differences rooted in theology and ideology (Stark et al. 1971), which have narrowed over time, and differences based on resources and

Studies have pointed to politics as an important force driving people away from religion-the argument is that the dogmatic politics of the Christian Right have alienated liberals and moderates, effectively threatening organized religion in America. We argue that existing explanations are incomplete; a proper reconsideration necessitates distinguishing processes of affiliation (with specific congregations) from identification (with religious traditions). Using three data sets, we find evidence that qualifies and complements existing narratives of religious exit. Evaluations of congregational political fit drive retention decisions. At the same time, opposition to the Christian Right only bears on retention decisions when it is salient in a congregational context, affecting primarily evangelicals and Republicans. These results help us understand the dynamics of the oft-observed relationship between the Christian Right and deidentification and urge us to adopt a broader, more pluralistic view of the politicization of American religion. Colorado and DURF funds given to Djupe. We were able to expand the scope of the 2012 study due to the intellectual and pecuniary contributions of Jeff Lyons (then a CU graduate student) and Scott Minkoff (then an associate at Barnard College), and we are sincerely thankful for their collaboration. We thank Bill Jacoby, the anonymous reviewers, Ryan Claassen, and Michele Margolis for helpful comments at various stages of the project.

In the fall of 2004, the National Association of Evangelicals produced a statement advocating more resources to combat environmental degradation and promote environmental sustainability. We assess several possible mechanisms for this opinion change using data from a survey experiment. In particular, we test for the effects of group cues, identity, and a new cue-the decision-making process-in which communicating the way a source went about making a decision can affect how other cues are utilized. In contrast to decades of research, we find that a group cue has little effect, while the process cue alters how in-and out-group members think about environmental protection and the players involved in this political drama.