Innovators and Disseminators: How Religious Institutions Shape Public Opinion

• In Event: Poster Session: Change and Continuity in Religion and Politics & Public Administration
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Change and Continuity in Religion and Politics

Abstract

How do religious institutions shape public perceptions of political violence? And why are some religious institutions better at shaping opinions and perceptions than others? Building on existing literature which explores the role of religious actors and institutions in affecting political outcomes, this paper focuses on one element of public opinion that can be enmeshed with the political machinations of the religious institutions themselves - public opinion toward political violence. In a comparative perspective and through a mixed methods approach, this paper assesses the divergent choices that religious institutions make in Tunisia and Lebanon. While Lebanon provides inter-religious variation, Tunisia allows us to explore variation in religious and secular communities. I make an argument, drawing on in-group policing literature, about the ability of local religious institutions to “police” its membership towards a preferable behavior and opinion, in the eyes of the institution. And more specifically, I argue that religious institutions can diffuse ideological preference on matters of public opinion through the social and community networks at their disposal.

Author

• Mostafa El Sharkawy, University of Michigan