LDS Political Identity

          In our class lectures, Professor Hawkins has defined political identity as “our political decisions, especially when it is the most important identity to do so” (Hawkins, 2012).  It has been argued that within Mormon culture, or in other words, the “meanings” Mormons assign to things (Hawkins, 2012), a trend has developed within their political identity. Many have argued that Mormons tend to make similar political decisions based on their Mormon culture. I would argue that this LDS identity is indeed present to some extent. Multiple things could cause this however, I believe that the main cause is explained by the primordialist theory, specifically the way Mormons are raised and the community they grow up in. This along with certain shared ideologies has created a trend of Republicanism among Mormons.  

            The textbook defines primordialism as “an approach to understanding identity which assumes that identities are something people are born with or that emerge through deep psychological process, in early childhood, given one’s family and community context” (Samuels 2012, 153).  While I would not argue that the conservative political identity found among church members is something they are born with, I do believe that being raised in the LDS community tends to create people with a conservative identity.

The Utah Data points website claimed that even among Democratic Mormons, 42% view Governor Romney, the Republican and very conservative LDS presidential candidate favorably (Frei, 2012). The Utah Data points blog went on to further state that “only 16% of Democrats from other faiths and 19% of non-religious Democrats say the same” (Frei, 2012). The many LDS democrats that view Romney favorably could obviously be them identifying with the candidate with a similar religious background, but it could also be argued that they were identifying with a candidate with a similar moral background. Another possible cause of the political identity within LDS culture could be the many parallels that exist between LDS morals and Republican morals. You could argue that democrats share many moral values with Mormons as well including being charitable and being “good Samaritans.” However, it seems clear that on major policy issues, such as gay marriage and abortion, the LDS culture tends to be fairly conservative, thus possibly causing a conservative political identity within Mormonism.

            Constructivism is “an approach to understanding identity which assumes that political identities are malleable, even if they often appear to be primordial, and suggests that we think of identity as an evolving political process rather than as a fixed set of identity categories” (Samuels 2012, 153). While it could be argued that many LDS people change their political identities throughout their lives, it seems that the majority tend to stick to a conservative identity with the minority having malleable identities. Constructivism does not appear to be a cause of the political identity that exists within LDS culture.

            There are many LDS people who identify themselves as Democrats and more politically liberal. The LDS identity is not entirely conservative or Republican. However, it does seem that a trend exists within the Mormon culture towards conservatism. The causes of this could be many, but two key factors that have influenced the LDS political identity are: the community and families that most LDS people are raised in, making the issue fairly primordial, as well as the morals and values that many LDS people identity with within the Republican or conservative platform. These two main causes have lead to a definite political identity within the LDS culture in the United States.  

REFERENCES

Frei, Matthew. Do LDS dems like Mitt Romney? http://utahdatapoints.com/ (accessed October 2012, 2012).

Hawkins, Kirk Andrew. 2012. Political idenity.

Samuels, David J. 2012. Comparative politics. Boston: Pearson.