"Does Religion Matter? Christianity and Public Support for the European Union" by Brent F. Nelsen, James L. Guth, and Cleveland R. Fraser, in European Union Politics (June 2001), Sage Publications Ltd., P.O. Box 5096, Thousand Oaks, Calif. 91359.

Scholars seeking to explain public attitudes toward European integration usually stress economics: More affluent (and better educated) Europeans, they note, tend to be more supportive of the European Union (EU). The authors, who are all political scientists at Furman University in South Carolina, contend that another important factor, religion, is overlooked.

While the EU may be chiefly an economic community, European integration and religion, particularly Catholicism, "were explicitly linked, theoretically and politically," when the dream of unity took shape in the early years after World War II, Nelsen and his colleagues observe. "European integration in the 1950s was largely a Christian Democratic project, led by devout Catholics such as Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schuman, and Alcide de Gasperi."

Moreover, write the authors, "the great divide over integration has always run between Catholic nations, which envisioned a single European federation, and Protestant latecomers, such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway (which never did join), with their pragmatic preference for closer cooperation among sovereign states. The Protestant countries are reluctant to abandon sovereignty for historical and political reasons," while the Catholic Church "has consistently supported both the European Union and its expansion."

But social scientists, convinced that religion is fast becoming a spent social force in Europe, have paid little heed to religion’s role in recent European politics. The authors’ analysis of Eurobarometer survey data from 10 countries over recent decades suggests that this neglect is a mistake. They find that Catholics, especially devout ones, "are warmest toward the Union, while Protestants tend to be slightly less supportive than secular citizens are." Strong religious commitment may also encourage support for European integration among some Protestants in established state churches (Lutheran and Anglican) who take their cues from their clerical leaders. But the most devout sectarian Protestants, such as Calvinists in the Netherlands and Northern Ireland, "are the least fond of the European Union."

"If, indeed, religious tides are slowly ebbing in Europe—especially Catholic commitment—a prime source of Europeanist sentiment may be eroding," Nelsen and his co-authors conclude. As a result, the EU "will be ever more dependent on its economic performance" for continued public support.