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The Power of Religious Organizations in Human Decision Processes: Analyzing Voting Behavior

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  • Benno Torgler
  • David Stadelmann
  • Marco Portmann

Abstract

In Switzerland, two key church institutions – the Conference of Swiss Bishops (CSB) and the Federation of Protestant Churches (FPC) – make public recommendations on how to vote for certain referenda. We leverage this unique situation to directly measure religious organizations’ power to shape human decision making. We employ an objective measure of voters’ commitment to their religious organization to determine whether they are more likely to vote in line with this organization’s recommendations. We find that voting recommendations do indeed matter, implying that even in a secularized world, religion plays a crucial role in voting decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Benno Torgler & David Stadelmann & Marco Portmann, 2013. "The Power of Religious Organizations in Human Decision Processes: Analyzing Voting Behavior," CESifo Working Paper Series 4526, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4526
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Schnellenbach, Jan & Schubert, Christian, 2015. "Behavioral political economy: A survey," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PB), pages 395-417.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    power; religion; voting; referenda; trust; rules of thumb;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General

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