Not paying unto Caesar: Christian nationalism, politics, race, and opposition to taxation

Abstract

Americans’ views on taxation exercise a powerful influence on political outcomes. Yet these views cannot be solely attributed to partisanship or even racial or economic self-interest. Recent work on the cultural sociology of taxation stresses that Americans’ views on taxes are shaped by their understanding of proper social order. Integrating these insights with burgeoning work on Christian nationalism (representing an idealized ethno-cultural social order), we examine how Christian nationalism corresponds to Americans’ views on taxation and the moderating influences of key social identities. We analyze data from three national surveys containing three different multi-item Christian nationalism indexes and numerous taxation questions. Even after accounting for partisanship, political ideology, religious characteristics, and other relevant correlates, the more Americans affirm Christian nationalist views, the more likely they are to believe their own income tax is too high; favor tax cuts to promote economic growth; oppose redistributive taxes on wealthy persons and corporations; believe the rich pay too much in taxes while believing poorer Americans often do not pay their fair share; and oppose taxes to help the environment. Interactions indicate Christian nationalism’s association with opposition to taxation is often stronger among White Americans compared to Black Americans and most often more pronounced among liberals and Democrats since those on the ideological or partisan right largely oppose taxation regardless of their views on Christian nationalism. Findings extend research on both taxation and Christian nationalism, elucidating relational dynamics at play in the former and clarifying the racialized, partisan, classist, and libertarian nature of the latter.