Identity, Attitudes, and the Voting Behavior of Mosque-Attending Muslim-Americans in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections

Abstract

In a post-September 11 world, no religious group in the United States has become more important yet remains more misunderstood than Muslim-Americans. This is particularly true with respect to the manner in which religious and political attitudes influence Muslim-Americans’ political behavior. This article addresses this issue by using data gathered from surveys taken in 70 mosques throughout the United States. With these data, this article maps the political and religious attitudes and behavior of mosque-attending Muslim-Americans and then analyzes the voting behavior of these respondents in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections. It will show that the cultural and religious traditions of Islam have resulted in most mosque-attending Muslim-Americans being social conservatives and, as a result, report having voted for Bush in 2000. It will also show that increasingly negative perceptions of the manner in which the United States war in Iraq has affected Muslims living American led many to switch loyalties and cast their ballots for Kerry in 2004.

American Muslim Political Participation: Between Diversity and Cohesion

“…Research on the general public during this span has elaborated both policy preference and affect toward American Muslims (Davis and Silver 2004; Huddy et al 2005; Davis 2007; Kalkan, Layman, and Uslaner 2009; Sides and Gross 2013). Relatedly, a smaller set of empirical studies have examined the attitudes and behaviors of American Muslims themselves, highlighting the dynamics of alienation and political incorporation within this community (Jamal 2005; Ayers and Hofstetter 2008; Patterson, Gasim, and Choi 2011; Oskooii 2015; Read 2015). Our project is situated in this latter, still nascent branch of the literature.…”

“…Second, in addition to building on the relative dearth of research American Muslims, this study highlights the disparate ways in which key determinants influence political behavior within this community's subgroups. Whether due to the difficulty in obtaining a sizeable sample from this relatively small population (Patterson, Gasim, and Choi 2011; Djupe and Calfano 2012), 2 or simply an implicit decision to limit the analysis to inferences about the sample as a whole (Ayers and Hofstetter 2008; Jalalzai 2009), studies of American Muslim political attitudes and behavior conditioned on key demographic distinctions is, not surprisingly, quite rare (see below for exceptions to this general rule). Altogether absent, however, is a comprehensive assessment of the differential effects attendant to these distinctions.…”

Religion and Ethnic Minority Attitudes in Britain toward the War in Afghanistan

“…When asked if the United States-led war on terrorism was a sincere effort to reduce international terrorism, the majority of Muslims in the United States said it was not (55.0 percent) (Pew Research Center 2007, 49), thought this fell to 41.0 percent in 2011. In a survey of Muslim-Americans, Patterson, Gasim and Jangsup (2011, 9) also found that few supported the war in Iraq. Moreover, when asked if the Iraq War was important for the security of the United States, more than 90 percent disagreed.…”

“…Moreover, when asked if the Iraq War was important for the security of the United States, more than 90 percent disagreed. Muslim-Americans were generally in agreement that their civil rights have suffered since the attacks of September 11 (Patterson, Gasim and Jangsup 2011, 9).…”

Identity, Issues, and Religious Commitment and Participation: Explaining Turnout among Mosque‐AttendingMuslimAmericans

“…On the other hand, it is also true that mosque‐attending Muslim Americans in our sample were a very diverse group, hailing from many different countries and representing many ethnicities . As a result, they may bring different ethnic and cultural sensibilities to issues of politics and, thus, may not respond in a uniform manner (Patterson, Gasim, and Choi ). In addition to this, in post‐9/11 America, it may be that the more religiously committed Muslim Americans choose to withdraw from noticeable political activities, leading to the opposite relationship between religious commitment and political participation.…”