The Twelve Tribes of American Politics by John Green and Steven Waldman

The religious groups that comprise the U.S. electorate--and how they voted in 2004

BeliefNet.com, October 2004

Excerpt

What the data show is that the Religious Right and the Religious Left are almost exactly the same size. The former has had a much greater impact for the past 25 years largely because of superior organization and drive.

The Religious Right - Percent of voting-age population: 12.6%; Percent of 2004 voters: 15%;  Highly orthodox white evangelical Protestants:

Heartland Culture Warriors - Percent of voting-age population: 11.4%; Percent of 2004 voters: 14%; Conservative Catholics and conservative mainline Protestants, Latter-day Saints, and other smaller groups. Slightly less orthodox than the Religious Right

Moderate Evangelicals - Percent of voting-age population: 10.8%; Percent of 2004 voters: 9.0%; hold less orthodox religious beliefs…regard themselves as born-again Christians.

White Bread Protestants - Percent of voting-age population: 8.0%; Percent of 2004 voters: 7.0%; core members of the Protestant "mainline" churches…that once dominated the American religious landscape.

Convertible Catholics - Percent of voting-age population: 8.1%; Percent of 2004 voters: 7.0%; Theology: The core of the white Catholic community, they outnumber conservative Catholics by nearly two to one.

The Religious Left - Percent of voting-age population: 12.6%; Percent of 2004 voters: 14%; Theologically liberal Catholics, mainline and evangelical Protestants. Less church-bound…pluralistic in their beliefs (two-thirds agree that "all the world's great religious are equally true and good".)

Spiritual But Not Religious - Percent of voting-age population: 5.3%; Percent of 2004 voters: 3.0%; Most report spiritual beliefs--85% believe in God and more than half are sure there is some kind of life after death--but they don't much like houses of worship or organized religion. They report no formal religious affiliation and a majority report seldom or never attending worship services. 47% are under age 35.

Seculars - Percent of voting-age population: 10.7%; Percent of 2004 voters: 11.0%; Non-religious, atheists, and agnostics.

Latinos - Percent of voting-age population: 7.3%; Percent of 2004 voters: 5.0; Majority Catholic, but with a large Protestant minority. Fairly orthodox in practice

Jews - Percent of voting-age population: 1.9%; Percent of 2004 voters: 3.0%; Common cultural identity mixed with diverse religious beliefs.

Muslims and other faiths - Percent of voting-age population: 2.7%; Percent of 2004 voters: 3.0%; Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans, and other smaller groups.

Black Protestants - Percent of voting-age population: 9.6%; Percent of 2004 voters: 8.0%;  Fairly orthodox in practice… the experience of slavery and segregation has produced a distinctive theology.

http://www.beliefnet.com/News/Politics/2004/10/The-Twelve-Tribes-Of-American-Politics.aspx?p=1