19th Annual Student Research Conference
Social Science
Catholic Electoral Behavior: Do "Moral Values" Matter?
Stephen A. Huss
Dr. Randy Hagerty, Faculty Mentor
The 2004 election saw many Catholic voters support President Bush. As polls and pundits highlight “moral values” as the decisive issue, other political scientists have dismissed the assertion, arguing the significance of more specific concerns (Iraq, the economy, abortion, gay marriage). Identifying which factors affected the Catholic vote for president (including such rivals as age and religiosity) is the subject of this research design. Using the data from the National Election Studies 2004 Dataset in several logistic regressions, the specific issues previously mentioned are demonstrated to be significant, but their uniqueness to only Catholics is doubtful.
Keywords: Catholic, moral values, Bush, Kerry, election, religion, voters
Topic(s):Political Science
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 56-4
Location: OP 2210
Time: 3:30