Politics in the Church: For Whom Do Orthodox Priests Call to Vote?

Abstract

The article provides a study of the relationship between politics and religion in contemporary Russia. The authors analyze the materials of the survey “Socio-Political Preferences of Russian Society” (number of people identifying themselves as Orthodox believers N=2,735), which showed that at least 21.1% of the sample make decisions concerning their electoral choices under direct influence of priests and fellow parishioners. The authors reveal the political forces who are beneficiaries of the Orthodox vote. They conclude that although the ruling “United Russia” is the main befenifiary, the effectiveness of the political support by the clergy largely depends on church attendance. Authors show that public expression of the priest’s opinion on political issues during the sermon is not that efficient as in the situation when undecided believers turn to priests with questions on political issues. The support of “United Russia” becomes most efficient when believers discuss their electoral choices within their church community.