Journal article
Andrew R. Lewis, William D. Blake, Stephen T. Mockabee, Amanda Friesen
Politics and Religion, vol. 13(1), 2020, pp. 57-88
Politics and Religion, vol. 13(1), 2020, pp. 57-88
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Cite
APA
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Lewis, A. R., Blake, W. D., Mockabee, S. T., & Friesen, A. (2020). American Constitutional Faith and the Politics of Hermeneutics. Politics and Religion, 13(1), 57–88. https://doi.org/10.1017/S175504831900021X
Chicago/Turabian
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Lewis, Andrew R., William D. Blake, Stephen T. Mockabee, and Amanda Friesen. “American Constitutional Faith and the Politics of Hermeneutics.” Politics and Religion 13, no. 1 (2020): 57–88.
MLA
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Lewis, Andrew R., et al. “American Constitutional Faith and the Politics of Hermeneutics.” Politics and Religion, vol. 13, no. 1, 2020, pp. 57–88, doi:10.1017/S175504831900021X.
BibTeX Click to copy
@article{lewis2020a,
title = {American Constitutional Faith and the Politics of Hermeneutics},
year = {2020},
issue = {1},
journal = {Politics and Religion},
pages = {57-88},
volume = {13},
doi = {10.1017/S175504831900021X},
author = {Lewis, Andrew R. and Blake, William D. and Mockabee, Stephen T. and Friesen, Amanda}
}
As more debates in American politics become constitutional questions, effective citizens must engage in constitutional interpretation. While most Americans venerate the Constitution as a part of a national, civil religion, levels of constitutional knowledge are also very low. In this paper, we analyze how ordinary Americans approach the task of constitutional interpretation. An analysis of two cross-sectional surveys indicates constitutional hermeneutics are a product of political factors, religious affiliation, and biblical interpretive preferences. We also present the results of a survey experiment where the manipulation of a clergy's interpretation of a biblical passage affects how respondents interpret both scripture and the Constitution, providing a potential causal mechanism for learning how to engage in hermeneutics.