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Gary P. Freeman, Chair BAT 2.116, Mailcode A1800, Austin, TX 78712 • 512-471-5121

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Jerod T Patterson

— Ph.D. (ABD), M.A., University of Texas, M.Div., Wake Forest University

Curriculum Vitae
Jerod T Patterson

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Biography

I am a doctoral candidate in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. I also serve as an Instructor at the University Extension and a Research Assistant with the Irma Rangel Public Policy Institute, where I coordinate the Institute's involvement in a regularly occuring statewide polling project.

My research centers on how citizens relate to policymaking and governance, with a special interest in how religion affects politics and public policy. This is manifest in my dissertation, which examines how religious group identity and threat structure citizen attitudes toward politics and policy. Research shows that Americans are increasingly divided along religious lines. However, religion has remained largely ignored by a growing body of research on social group identity. I hypothesize that, for many Americans, religion serves as a social group identity and that this identity is sensitive to threats to the group’s beliefs and interests. Through original survey research and experiments, I show how these social and cognitive features represent important dimensions of religion’s effect on attitudes toward politics and policy. I find evidence that a salient religious group identity and the perception of threat toward one’s religious group can lead to more cohesive and group-centric attitudes. Through this, I aim to contribute to broader theoretical explorations into policy representation and group politics. My dissertation connects to broader scholarly interests in public policy, survey research, and the processes and cleavages that divide and unite Americans.

Before coming to the University of Texas, I earned a masters degree at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. For the past eight years, I have also worked as a public affairs consultant, specializing in public opinion research and communications consulting for public officials and organizations. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my wife and son, browsing the local farmer's market, and playing an occasional German board game.

Interests

Public opinion, public policy, survey research, civic participation, group politics, religion and politics

GOV S312L • Issues & Policies In Amer Gov

85165 • Summer 2013
Meets MTWTHF 1000am-1130am MEZ 1.306
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Course Description  

Throughout our nation’s history, religion has proven an influential and often controversial feature of American political life. This course surveys the relationship between religion and politics in the United States and explores the ways in which religion has served as a source of political division and unity. Its purpose is to help you better understand the many ways in which religion has shaped American politics and society. The course is comprised of three sections. During the first, “Foundations,” we will focus our attention of the basics of the relationship between religion and politics in the United States over time. During the second, “Developments,” we look at how social and political change has affected religion and politics in America. Finally, in the final third of the course, titled “Controversies,” we turn our attention to particular points of conflict over the relationship between religion and politics. Throughout the course, we will examine several important topics, including the role of religion in the American founding, separation of church and state, challenges brought about by immigration and America’s changing religious profile, the role of religion in social and political movements such as Civil Rights, religion’s influence on controversial policy debates, and more recent issues like the rise of the “Religious Right” and emergence of a “Religious Left” in contemporary politics.    

Grading Policy:    

Grades are based on two midterm exams (25% each) and one final exam (30%). Attendance and participation account for 10% of the grade, and the final 10% comes from a two-to-three page reflection paper on the course.      

Texts:    

1. Frank Lambert, Religion in American Politics: A Short History, Princeton University Press, 2010.

2. Kenneth Wald and Allison Calhoun-Brown, Religion and Politics in the United States, Sixth Edition, Roman and Littlefield, 2010.

3. James Davison Hunter and Alan Wolfe, Is There a Culture War? A Dialogue on Values and American Public Life, Brookings Institution Press, 2006.

4. A few additional readings will be drawn from various sources, including a brief course packet.

 

GOV 312L • Issues & Policies In Amer Gov

38709 • Spring 2013
Meets MWF 1200pm-100pm GAR 0.102
show description

Course Description:  

Throughout our nation’s history, religion has proven an influential and often controversial feature of American political life. This course surveys the relationship between religion and politics in the United States and explores the ways in which religion has served as a source of political division and unity. Its purpose is to help you better understand the many ways in which religion has shaped American politics and society. The course is comprised of three sections. During the first, “Foundations,” we will focus our attention of the basics of the relationship between religion and politics in the United States over time. During the second, “Developments,” we look at how social and political change has affected religion and politics in America. Finally, in the final third of the course, titled “Controversies,” we turn our attention to particular points of conflict over the relationship between religion and politics. Throughout the course, we will examine several important topics, including the role of religion in the American founding, separation of church and state, challenges brought about by immigration and America’s changing religious profile, the role of religion in social and political movements such as Civil Rights, religion’s influence on controversial policy debates, and more recent issues like the rise of the “Religious Right” and emergence of a “Religious Left” in contemporary politics.    

Grading Policy:  

Grades are based on two midterm exams (25% each) and one final exam (30%). Attendance and participation account for 10% of the grade, and the final 10% comes from a two-to-three page reflection paper on the course.    

Texts:  

1. Frank Lambert, Religion in American Politics: A Short History, Princeton University Press, 2010.

2. Kenneth Wald and Allison Calhoun-Brown, Religion and Politics in the United States, Sixth Edition, Roman and Littlefield, 2010.

3. James Davison Hunter and Alan Wolfe, Is There a Culture War? A Dialogue on Values and American Public Life, Brookings Institution Press, 2006.

4. A few additional readings will be drawn from various sources, including a brief course packet.

download syllabus

GOV 312L • Issues & Policies In Amer Gov

38600 • Fall 2012
Meets TTH 330pm-500pm WAG 214
show description

Course Description 

Throughout American history, religion has proven an influential and often controversial feature of American political life. This course surveys the relationship between religion and politics in the United States and explores the ways in which religion has been a source of political division and unity. Its purpose is to help you better understand the many ways in which religion has shaped American politics and society. After a brief overview of religion and politics in the United States, the course will address several important topics, including the role of religion in the American founding, separation of church and state, challenges brought about by immigration and America’s changing religious profile, the role of religion in social and political movements such as Civil Rights, religion’s influence on controversial policy debates, and more recent issues like the rise of the “Religious Right” and emergence of a “Religious Left” in contemporary politics.

download syllabus

GOV S312L • Issues & Policies In Amer Gov

85393 • Summer 2012
Meets MTWTHF 830am-1000am WEL 2.312
show description

Throughout American history, religion has proven an influential and often controversial feature of American political life. This course surveys the relationship between religion and politics in the United States and explores the ways in which religion has been a source of political division and unity. Its purpose is to help you better understand the many ways in which religion has shaped American politics and society. After a brief overview of religion and politics in the United States, the course will address several important topics, including the role of religion in the American founding, separation of church and state, challenges brought about by immigration and America’s changing religious profile, the role of religion in social and political movements such as Civil Rights, religion’s influence on controversial policy debates, and more recent issues like the rise of the “Religious Right” and emergence of a “Religious Left” in contemporary politics.

download syllabus

Publications

Patterson, Jerod. (Forthcoming) “Civil Religion,” “Communism/Socialism,” “Evolution Controversies,” “Pseudoscience,” and “Aryan Nation.” In Bill J. Leonard and Jill Y. Crainshaw, eds., Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States, Second Edition. Westport, CT: ABC-CLIO Greenwood. (Essays, 700-1500 words)

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Patterson, Jerod. (2011) "What Texas polls can tell us about Rick Perry's chances in Iowa." (Mass media article published in the Texas Tribune.)

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Patterson, Jerod. (2010) “Interdenominational Agencies: Working Together in Common Cause.” In Craig Atwood, Samuel Hill, and Frank S. Mead, eds., The Handbook of Denominations in the United States, 13th Edition. pp. 349-368. Nashville: Abingdon Press. (Book chapter)

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Patterson, Jerod. (2011) “Interest Group Policy Goals and Electoral Involvement: Lessons from Legislative Primary Challenges.” Masters Report, University of Texas at Austin. (Masters report)

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Teaching

GOV 312L American Political Parties*

Why do American political parties look the way they do? How do they shape the way in which Americans participate in politics? This course answers these questions by examining the features that define political parties in the United States. Because party systems reflect the characteristics of their political and social contexts, our examination focuses especially on the electoral structures and social cleavages that underlie American politics. Indeed, the course's most pronounced theme is that American political parties are a function of the electoral arrangements and social cleavages that exist in the United States. The first part of the course examines foundational material on ways to conceptualize and study political parties, including V.O. Key’s classic party schema. Subsequent sections use Key’s schema to guide our consideration of the many different aspects of American parties.

The course’s overarching goal is to help you develop a theoretical framework through which you can better analyze political processes and interpret current debates about American parties. To this end, course assignments consist of seven integrative essays in which you are asked to use course concepts to explain and analyze political phenomena and current events. Our required text is Marjorie Hershey’s Party Politics in America, 14th Edition. Because the course seeks to help you develop an applied knowledge of course concepts, you are also asked to subscribe to a major American newspaper and stay up to date on political news. I recommend either the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, both of which offer student subscription rates.

*Utilizes a web-based format offered through the University Extension.

Teaching Philosophy

My goal as a teacher is to help students become informed consumers and skillful practitioners of politics. Every day, we consume political information through news, entertainment, and social interaction. From my background in public affairs and media, I know the formative impact these encounters have on political attitudes and behaviors. By introducing students to political science in a real and engaging way, I aim to equip them with the knowledge and ability to interpret political information and understand the processes that shape public opinion and political behavior. Within this learning process, I invite students to use this knowledge to reflect on their own political experience, consider the rights and responsibilities of democratic citizenship, and develop a personal vision for political participation and social responsibility.

A full statement of teaching philosophy is available upon request.

Teaching Competencies

Public policy, public opinion, political research, polling and survey research, policy controversies, parties and interest groups, civil society and civic participation, state and local government, southern politics, religion and politics.

Course outlines and sample syllabi are available upon request.

Conferences

Conference Participation

“The Impact of Renewalist Religious Movements on Civic Participation in the United States and Latin America.” With Robert Woodberry. Paper accepted for presentation at the International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association. San Francisco, California, May 2012.

“How Religious Group Identity and Feelings of Threat Structure Attitudes toward Religion in Public School Curricula.” Paper accepted for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, Illinois, April 2012.

“Religion, Politics, and Identity: Developing New Measures from an Experimental Approach.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. October 2011.

“House Divided? Catholicism(s) and Attitudes toward Immigration and Life Policies.” With David L. Leal. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, Illinois, April 2011.

“Interest Group Support for State Legislative Primary Challengers.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, Illinois, April 2010.

“Explaining Interest Group Involvement in Primary Campaigns: The Case of Texas.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Political Science Association. Houston, Texas, April 2010.

“Racial and Ethnic Opinion Differences about State Policymaking: Results from the 2008 and 2009 Texas Polls.” With David L. Leal. Paper presented at the Conference on Underrepresented Groups in Subnational Politics. Rice University, Houston, Texas, May 2009.

“The Religious Right and American Evangelical Missions, or ‘What Hath Athens to do with… Samaria and the Ends of the Earth?’” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion. Atlanta, Georgia, March 2008.

“Profiles in Public Leadership Conference.” Program organizer. Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, March 2007.

Articles in Process

“How Religious Group Identity and Feelings of Threat Structure Attitudes toward Religion in Public School Curricula.” (Completed draft revising for submission)

“Catholicism(s) and Politics: Measuring Catholic Diversity in Political Research.” With David L. Leal. (Completed draft revising for submission)

“The Impact of Renewalist Religious Movements on Civic Participation in the United States and Latin America.” With Robert Woodberry. (Work in progress)

“New Harmonies to an Old Theme: American Civil Religion in the New Pluralistic Age.” (Work in progress)

“Interest Group Policy Goals and Electoral Involvement: Lessons from Legislative Primary Challenges.” (Completed draft revising for submission)

Dissertation

Abstract

People of God: How Religion, Group Identity, and Threat Structure Attitudes toward Public Policies

My dissertation research seeks to explain how religious group identity and threat structure citizen attitudes toward politics and policy. Research shows that Americans are increasingly divided along religious lines, which has spurred greater interest in the way in which religion shapes political attitudes and behaviors. However, little research has considered the political effects of religion as a social group identity. This is a notable omission considering that research on race and national identity have shown group identity and perceived threat to have a strong effect on the views of group members. I hypothesize that, for many Americans, religion serves as a social group identity and that this identity is sensitive to threats to the group’s beliefs and interests. Through original survey research and experiments, I show how these social and cognitive features represent important dimensions of religion’s effect on attitudes toward politics and policy. I find evidence that a salient religious group identity and the perception of threat toward one’s religious group can lead to more cohesive and group-centric attitudes. This brings new insight to the way in which religion structures political attitudes and also promises to contribute to a more general political theory of group identity and threat by bringing together religion with research on other social identities.

This research is particularly important during a time in which the United States grows more religiously diverse. The power of religion to motivate attitudes and behaviors has become increasingly evident, especially in the years since September 11, 2001. Religious cleavages play a conspicuous role in some of America’s most controversial policy debates, many of which involve fundamental questions of political rights that directly affect individual lives and liberties. An increase in religious pluralism and growing political division along religious lines exacerbate these controversies and pose a challenge to the political trust and liberal values that maintain democratic stability in the United States. Political science lacks a thorough rendering of the way in which religion structures political attitudes and affects public debate. This project examines how the relationship between individuals and their religion affects their relationship to politics. By viewing religion as a social identity, it explores the cognitive processes that make religion such a powerful political force. This will benefit society by expanding our knowledge of the political consequences of religious division during a time of growing religious pluralism and demographic change.

 

Committee

David L. Leal (chair), Daron R. Shaw, Eric L. McDaniel, Bethany L. Albertson, Geoffrey C. Layman (University of Notre Dame).

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