Religious Social Networks, Indirect Mobilization, and African-American Political Participation

This study examines the mobilizing effects of informal political discussions among African-American church attenders. Specifically, I focus on indirect political encouragement through congregant social networks. I utilize data from the 1993-1994 National Black Politics Study to test models of indirect mobilization effects on voting and non-voting political activism. Findings from regression analyses demonstrate that informal political communication in churches is a more effective stimulus of political involvement than clergy messages. In particular, I argue that discussions in religious social networks increases black activism by overcoming the paradoxes of participation, developing a motivating political consciousness in citizens, and producing responsiveness to religious group civic norms. My results suggest that frequent church attendance and expectations of regular con-tact with fellow parishioners serve as important mechanisms for monitoring and re i n forcing civic norms, while clergy messages may be less effective due to their more detached connection with black church attenders.