Political Inclination: A Mormon Viewpoint

     Recent events have thrown Mormons into national scrutiny, and especially political scrutiny. With a Mormon as the Republican Presidential Nominee, questions about the nature of Mormons and politics have been raised. Specifically, is there a distinct LDS political identity here in the United States?

     To answer this question without looking from subjective viewpoints, let’s take a look at some statistics. According to a report done by Trinity College, Mormons are more than twice as likely (59%) to be republican than non-Mormon Americans (27%). This means that if you select a Mormon American Adult at random and a non-LDS American adult at random, the Mormon is almost twice as likely to be a republican than the non-Mormon is. While this provides some proof that there is a distinct LDS political identity, you needn’t be convinced by one statistic alone. As Bahr explains, a random sampling of U.S. adults done by the National Opinion Research Center’s Cumulative General Social Survey from 1972 to 1988 revealed some similar statistics regarding Mormons and politics. According to the data, almost half of Church members reported their affiliation as Republicans and 19% said they self-identified as strongly republican. The data doesn’t stop there, however. In 1984, 85% of Mormons voted for Reagan and Utah is reportedly the most Republican state in the entire nation, with 57% of it’s inhabitants being Mormon, according to Deseret News.

      Now that we have confirmed the presence of a National Mormon Political Identity, let’s look at some of the causes. One cause for the preference for the Republican party by American Mormon may be the socially conservative teachings of the Church’s doctrine. While Church leaders do not dictate how members should affiliate politically, the doctrine of the Church holds marriage and life sacred. Mormons’ are attracted to the pro-life stance of the Republican Party, which asserted the sanctity of human life in the 2012 Republican Party Platform and affirmed “that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed”. The Republican Party also supports “a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman”, a concept long supported by the LDS Church.

     In addition to the social reasons, many LDS members may be attracted to the economic stances of the Republican party which favor less government involvement and more personal choice, a view which aligns with the member’s belief in freedom and agency. Now how can primordialist and constructivist arguments about political identity be applied to this Mormon Political phenomenon? From this identity we can see support for the Primordialist argument. Primordialism states that this identity is something that people are born with or that emerges unconsciously during childhood. As young children are raised in the faith with their family, this identity is formed early in conjunction with gospel teachings. This affiliation to the Republican party’s ideals is shaped as primary age children learn of the sanctity of marriage and is eternal role as well as the importance of every soul, born and unborn. As Samuels describes, primodialism suggests “collective mobilization occurs when there is a threat to the groups continued practice of their collective identity” (Samuels 154), a phenomenon that was witnessed during the California same-sex marriage proposals. The Church has declared that it only gives council on political matters when the outcomes may “undermine the moral fiber of society” (Hinckley 1999). When it does give council, the members surely do mobilize.

      We’ve taken a look at how primordialism can explain the Mormon Political Phenomena, now let’s take a look at constructivism. Unlike primordialism, constructivism doesn’t believe that groups will respond to communal threats. Instead, it emphasizes that “individuals can and do choose their identities”(Samuels 168). If there was a distinct political identity associated with Mormonism, then individuals born into Mormonism who accepted the practice, would have little choice in choosing their political identity as primordialism suggests- it would be formed early as a child. While there is a distinct political identity associated with Mormons, some do differ. This can be explained by Constructivism: Mormons do have a choice in their political identity and they do choose it. However, their convictions and beliefs as Latter-day Saints dictate much of their political identity and affiliations.

 Works Cited 

Bahr, Stephen J. "Mormon Statistics." Mormon Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. .

 Campbell, David E., and J. Quin Monson. "Dry Kindling: A Political Profile of American Mormons." From Pews to Polling Places: Faith and Politics in the American Religious Mosaic. Ed. J. Matthew Wilson. N.p.: Georgetown UP, n.d. 153-82. University of Notre Dame. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. . 

Hinckley, Gordon B. 1999. "Why We Do Some of the Things We Do." Ensign, November, 52. 

Phillips, Rick, and Ryan T. Cragun. "Mormons in the United States 1990-2008: Socio-demographic Trends and Regional Differences." Http://commons.trincoll.edu/. Trinity College, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. . 

Samuels, David. Comparative Politics. New York: Pearson Education, 2013. Print. 

Walker, Joseph. "New Study Confirms Many LDS Stereotypes." Deseret News. N.p., 15 Dec. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. .