Secular America? The Political Causes and Consequences of Growing Public and Private Secularism

世俗的美国？

• 批准号: 0961700
• 负责人: David Campbell
• 金额: $ 20.96万
• 依托单位: University of Notre Dame
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-07-15 至 2013-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0961700&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Secular; America; Political; Causes; Consequences

America is a highly religious nation. Yet the last twenty years have seen a dramatic rise in secularism in America, i.e. rapid growth in the proportion of Americans who report no religious affiliation. During this period, secularism has become especially common among young people, suggesting that the United States may become an increasingly secular nation. The research produced by this project will inform the often heated discussion of religion's role in American society and politics. Given the high level of public attention to the mingling of religion with politics, this project is likely to produce research of great interest beyond academia. The project will answer three questions.First, what is secularism? The first step is to define, and then measure, secularism. It is not simply the absence of religion (as the political science literature typically has defined it). Rather, it comes in different forms. These include public secularism (a belief that religion should be removed from the proverbial public square), and private secularism (one's own beliefs and behavior). Private secularism, in turn, can either consist of indifference toward religion, or the embrace of secular alternatives to religion. With the use of a major national survey, this project develops ways of measuring these variations of secularism. Second, what are the political causes of secularism? Having developed measures of the different varieties of secularism, its political causes are examined. Unlike the secularization of European nations, which unfolded gradually, its rise in the United States has occurred rapidly. One possible explanation is that secularism has grown as some Americans have come to associate religion with politics, particularly conservative politics, and thus pull away from religion as a reaction. If correct, this would redefine our understanding of the relationship between religion and politics. Rather than just religion shaping politics, it would mean that the political environment shapes religious orientations. The potential causes of secularism are examined through the analysis of a survey which follows the same people through two election cycles. Third, what are the political consequences of secularism? The third component of the project will examine the consequence of public secularism: the exclusion of religion from the public square. What happens when individuals hear positions on policy issues that are, or are not, framed in religious terms? Does public secularism mean greater prospects for political compromise? Does it lead religious Americans to be less politically engaged, or secular Americans to be more engaged? These questions are addressed using a set of experimental studies.The social value of the project comes in the greater understanding it will provide of a significant, yet understudied, social phenomena of our time: the rapid rise of secularism. In doing so it will help us understand, and prepare for, the consequences of an increasingly secular nation.

美国是一个高度宗教化的国家。然而，在过去的20年里，美国的世俗主义急剧上升，也就是说，没有宗教信仰的美国人的比例迅速增长。在此期间，世俗主义在年轻人中变得特别普遍，这表明美国可能成为一个越来越世俗的国家。该项目产生的研究将为关于宗教在美国社会和政治中的作用的经常激烈的讨论提供信息。鉴于公众高度关注宗教与政治的混合，该项目很可能产生学术界以外的研究。这个项目将回答三个问题：第一，什么是世俗主义？第一步是定义，然后衡量，世俗主义。这不仅仅是宗教的缺失（政治学文献通常这样定义）。相反，它以不同的形式出现。这些包括公共世俗主义（一种信仰，宗教应该从众所周知的公共广场），和私人世俗主义（自己的信仰和行为）。私人世俗主义，反过来，可以包括对宗教的冷漠，或世俗宗教的替代品的拥抱。该项目利用一项重要的全国性调查，制定了衡量世俗主义这些变化的方法。第二，世俗主义的政治原因是什么？制定了措施的不同品种的世俗主义，其政治原因进行审查。与欧洲国家逐渐展开的世俗化不同，它在美国的崛起是迅速的。一个可能的解释是，世俗主义的发展是因为一些美国人已经开始将宗教与政治，特别是保守的政治联系起来，从而脱离宗教作为一种反应。如果是正确的，这将重新定义我们对宗教和政治之间关系的理解。这不仅意味着宗教塑造政治，还意味着政治环境塑造宗教取向。世俗主义的潜在原因进行了审查，通过分析的调查，通过两个选举周期跟踪相同的人。第三，世俗主义的政治后果是什么？该项目的第三个组成部分将审查公共世俗主义的后果：将宗教排除在公共广场之外。当人们听到有关政策问题的立场是或不是以宗教术语为框架时，会发生什么？公共世俗主义是否意味着更大的政治妥协前景？它是导致宗教美国人较少参与政治，还是世俗美国人更多参与政治？这些问题通过一系列实验研究来解决。该项目的社会价值在于它将提供对我们这个时代一个重要但尚未充分研究的社会现象的更深入理解：世俗主义的迅速崛起。这样做将有助于我们理解一个日益世俗化的国家的后果，并为之做好准备。