Christian Nationalism and Authoritarianism
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Christian Nationalism and Authoritarianism
Christian nationalism is generally studied as a cultural and political framework that connects Christianity with national identity and the legitimate exercise of political authority. Research on Christian nationalism and authoritarianism asks whether people who believe that the United States should be explicitly Christian are also more receptive to strong leaders, unequal political participation, restrictions on political opponents, hierarchical social arrangements, political violence, and departures from established democratic norms.
The research literature summarized here generally finds a substantial association between Christian-nationalist beliefs and several forms of authoritarian or anti-democratic attitudes. At the same time, scholars caution that Christian nationalism is not synonymous with Christianity, political conservatism, patriotism, racism, or authoritarianism. Researchers also disagree about how Christian nationalism should be measured and whether common survey scales always capture the same political or religious meanings across different racial, religious, and social groups.
Christian Nationalism and Authoritarian Attitudes
National survey research has repeatedly found correlations between Christian-nationalist identification and measures of authoritarianism. Public Religion Research Institute studies, for example, have compared people classified as Christian-nationalism adherents, sympathizers, skeptics, and rejecters and found substantially higher right-wing authoritarianism scores among adherents and sympathizers.
Studies also examine preferences for strong political leadership, obedience, social order, and concentrated executive authority. Some findings indicate that Christian-nationalist beliefs are associated with greater willingness to support leaders who exercise power with fewer institutional restraints.
These relationships are not uniform. Research examining race, political identity, religion, and different definitions of authoritarianism finds that the strength and meaning of the association can vary considerably among groups. Some studies consequently warn against treating everyone who scores highly on a Christian-nationalism scale as belonging to a single coherent authoritarian movement.
Democratic Norms and Institutional Constraints
A major area of research concerns democratic rules and institutions. Studies have examined attitudes toward elections, voting rights, political tolerance, civil liberties, institutional checks and balances, and the legitimate authority of political opponents.
Experimental and survey research has found that stronger Christian-nationalist beliefs can be associated with greater willingness to tolerate violations of democratic norms, particularly when respondents believe the country faces a serious national, religious, or cultural emergency. Hypothetical scenarios have found greater willingness among some respondents to permit leaders to suspend elections, suppress political opponents, or bypass normal institutional constraints during perceived crises.
Research on voting similarly finds associations between Christian nationalism and support for restricting voter access. Studies have connected stronger Christian-nationalist identification with beliefs that voting is too easy, that voter fraud is widespread, or that political participation should be more restricted.
Other research focuses on citizens' rights. Some studies find that Christian nationalism corresponds with stronger support for particular rights, such as gun ownership or certain understandings of religious liberty, while assigning less importance to some procedural rights or protections for political and cultural out-groups.
The evidence therefore points less toward simple opposition to all rights than toward competing ideas about whose rights should receive priority and which institutions should have authority to define them.
Political Violence and Coercion
Political violence is another prominent area of study. Research surrounding the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol has examined Christian-nationalist beliefs alongside perceived victimhood, racial identity, conspiracy beliefs, apocalypticism, gun ownership, and political grievance.
Several studies find that Christian nationalism is associated with increased approval of political violence under certain conditions. The association is often strongest when Christian-nationalist beliefs are combined with perceptions that one's religious, racial, political, or national group is threatened.
Research on the Capitol attack found that Christian nationalism interacted with perceived victimhood, racial identity, and conspiracy thinking in predicting approval of the events of January 6. Other studies examine Christian symbolism, prophecy, spiritual-warfare language, and religious narratives surrounding the attack and subsequent political mobilization.
Recent research has also examined the interaction of Christian nationalism with gun identity. Findings suggest that Christian-nationalist beliefs and strong identification with gun ownership can independently correlate with support for political violence and may reinforce one another in some populations.
These findings do not mean that most Christians, conservatives, gun owners, or even all people classified as Christian nationalists support political violence. Survey research cited in the source material repeatedly notes that majorities of Americans reject political violence.
Strong Leaders and Executive Power
Christian nationalism has also been studied in relation to strong-leader politics and personalist political authority. Researchers investigate whether national identity framed in explicitly religious terms can make concentrated executive authority appear morally or divinely legitimate.
Some studies connect Christian-nationalist beliefs with willingness to grant political leaders extraordinary authority during emergencies. Contemporary reporting and scholarship also examine rhetoric portraying leaders as divinely chosen figures engaged in struggles between good and evil.
Donald Trump's political career has been a major focus of this literature. Research following the 2016 and 2020 elections found that Christian nationalism independently predicted support for Trump even after accounting for several demographic, religious, economic, racial, and political variables.
Other work examines elite influence in the opposite direction: rather than assuming Christian-nationalist beliefs always produce political preferences, experimental research asks whether political leaders can encourage supporters to adopt the Christian-nationalist label or reinterpret existing religious beliefs through nationalist political cues.
This suggests a potentially reciprocal relationship in which religious-nationalist ideas influence politics while political elites simultaneously shape religious-nationalist identities.
Social Hierarchy, Order, and Punishment
Authoritarianism is also studied through attitudes toward social hierarchy and punitive government.
Research has linked Christian-nationalist beliefs with support for capital punishment, harsher criminal penalties, government crackdowns on perceived troublemakers, and other forms of punitive social control.
Related studies examine inequality, economic hierarchy, labor relations, and cultural authority. This work investigates whether Christian nationalism legitimizes existing inequalities by presenting particular political, economic, racial, gender, or religious arrangements as morally proper or divinely ordained.
The evidence is complex. Christian nationalism can combine demands for strong government intervention in some areas with strong opposition to state intervention in others. Research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, found Christian-nationalist identification associated with resistance to government health restrictions and appeals to individual liberty.
Christian nationalism can therefore contain both authoritarian and libertarian elements depending on the issue and the perceived identity of those exercising governmental power.
Threat, Conspiracy, and Apocalyptic Politics
Perceived threat is one of the most important mechanisms identified in the literature.
Researchers have examined fears of demographic change, declining Christian cultural influence, immigration, racial change, secularization, and perceived persecution. When national and religious identity are understood as being under existential threat, ordinary political disagreements can be reframed as struggles over national survival.
Studies find that Christian nationalism is also associated with generalized conspiracy thinking, particularly when combined with biblical literalism or apocalyptic religious interpretations. Conspiracy narratives can portray political institutions, minority groups, government agencies, or political opponents as secret or existential enemies.
Apocalyptic political thinking may further intensify these dynamics by converting political conflict into a cosmic struggle between good and evil. Under these circumstances, compromise and procedural constraints can appear less important than achieving what believers perceive as a morally necessary political outcome.
Research nevertheless cautions against assuming that all Christian-nationalist beliefs originate in conspiracy theories or authoritarian psychology. Some findings indicate that moral values such as loyalty, sanctity, liberty, and fairness also help distinguish supporters and opponents of Christian nationalism.
Race, Immigration, and In-Group Protection
Christian nationalism has historically been examined alongside race and immigration because national identity inevitably raises questions about who belongs to the nation.
Studies have found associations between Christian-nationalist beliefs and distrust of immigrants, restrictive immigration attitudes, anti-Muslim sentiment, and perceptions that certain racial or religious groups are less authentically American.
Research also finds that race can change the meaning of Christian nationalism. Some recent studies argue that Christian nationalism may function as a form of religiously sacralized in-group protection among several racial populations rather than operating identically among white, Black, Latino, Asian American, and other communities.
This complicates earlier assumptions that Christian nationalism is necessarily a uniform expression of white racial identity. Researchers increasingly examine how racial identity, religious identity, partisanship, historical experience, and group threat interact rather than treating Christian nationalism as having identical meaning for every respondent.
Gender, Masculinity, and Patriarchal Authority
Gender hierarchy is another recurring dimension of the research.
Studies examine connections among Christian nationalism, traditional gender roles, masculine identity, patriarchal authority, and political preferences emphasizing strength and social order. Research on masculinity suggests that Christian nationalism can interact with particular understandings of masculine and feminine identity in predicting support for extreme political positions.
Other scholarship studies theological concepts of family hierarchy and social authority, including political movements that present gender roles as part of a divinely ordered society.
These findings have contributed to broader debates about whether authoritarian political preferences are partly rooted in hierarchical models of family, religion, and society.
Religious Liberty and State Power
Christian nationalism also raises competing understandings of religious liberty.
Supporters of greater Christian influence in government may describe their position as protecting religious freedom or restoring Christianity's appropriate role in public life. Critics argue that government sponsorship of one religious tradition can undermine the religious liberty of minority faiths and nonreligious citizens.
Survey research distinguishes between ordinary religious participation in politics and proposals for official government promotion of Christianity. Many Americans support religion's presence in public life while opposing an official national religion or government preference for one faith.
The central institutional question is therefore not whether religious citizens may participate in politics, but how governmental power should treat competing religious and nonreligious communities.
Christian Nationalism and Donald Trump
A substantial research literature examines the relationship between Christian nationalism and support for Donald Trump.
Studies of the 2016 presidential election found Christian nationalism to be an independent predictor of Trump support even when researchers controlled for other political, economic, racial, and religious factors. Longitudinal work examining the 2020 election similarly found Christian nationalism associated with continued or newly acquired support for Trump.
Scholars and journalists have also studied the use of biblical symbolism, spiritual-warfare narratives, divine-election language, and claims that political leaders are instruments of God's purposes.
The source material includes both empirical research and interpretive journalism on these relationships. Claims about individual politicians' motivations should therefore be distinguished from statistical findings concerning voters' attitudes and from theological interpretations advanced by activists, scholars, or journalists.
Varieties of Christian Nationalism
Christian nationalism is not a single organization or unified theological tradition.
Recent scholarship identifies several distinct currents, including charismatic dominionism, Calvinist nationalism, and Catholic integralism. These movements can differ substantially in theology, institutional strategy, leadership, and understandings of the relationship between church and state.
Some Christian nationalists favor informal cultural Christian dominance. Others advocate stronger governmental recognition of Christianity. Still others advance explicit theological arguments for subordinating secular political institutions to Christian authority.
Because of this diversity, broad claims about "Christian nationalists" can conceal significant disagreements within the movement.
The distinction also matters analytically. Christian nationalism should not automatically be equated with evangelical Christianity, conservative Christianity, the Republican Party, patriotism, or ordinary religious political participation.
Comparative Religious Nationalism
Although much of the research concerns the United States, scholars increasingly study Christian nationalism comparatively.
Research using Afrobarometer data has examined Christian-nationalist attitudes across African countries and reports associations with lower support for democracy and greater receptiveness to authoritarian political alternatives in some populations.
Comparative work also places Christian nationalism within the broader study of religious nationalism, populism, democratic backsliding, executive aggrandizement, and political movements that connect sacred identity with state authority.
International democracy datasets such as V-Dem, Freedom House, and Afrobarometer provide contextual evidence for studying how religious nationalism interacts with institutional change, civil liberties, and democratic governance.
However, relationships identified in one country cannot automatically be assumed to operate identically elsewhere. Religious institutions, colonial histories, political systems, racial structures, and national identities vary substantially among societies.
Measurement and Scholarly Critiques
An important part of the literature questions how Christian nationalism itself is measured.
Much research relies on a six-item survey scale assessing beliefs about Christianity and American national identity. Critics argue that the scale may combine several distinct ideas and that equal numerical scores do not necessarily indicate identical political worldviews.
Psychometric research has raised questions about treating the scale as a simple interval measurement. Other scholarship warns against assuming authoritarian motivations from Christian-nationalist survey responses without examining political polarization, partisan conflict, identity threat, and alternative explanations.
Research on racial differences further suggests that identical answers to Christian-nationalism questions can reflect different social experiences or political meanings among different populations.
These critiques do not necessarily reject evidence connecting Christian nationalism with authoritarian attitudes. Instead, they caution against treating the relationship as automatic, universal, or conceptually simple.
Distinguishing Correlation from Causation
Much of the evidence summarized in this literature comes from observational survey research.
A correlation between Christian nationalism and authoritarian attitudes does not by itself establish that Christian nationalism causes authoritarianism. Both could be influenced by additional factors such as political partisanship, social dominance orientation, racial attitudes, perceived cultural threat, religious beliefs, demographic characteristics, media environments, or political leadership.
Some longitudinal and experimental studies provide stronger evidence about causal mechanisms, including research on elite political cues, perceived threat, and reactions to national emergencies. Even these studies generally illuminate particular mechanisms rather than demonstrating that one ideology alone causes authoritarian political behavior.
The most defensible interpretation of the literature is therefore that Christian nationalism is frequently associated with authoritarian and anti-democratic attitudes, while the direction, strength, and causes of those relationships remain subjects of continuing research.
Christian Nationalism, Christianity, and Democratic Participation
The literature repeatedly distinguishes Christian nationalism from Christianity itself.
Christian political participation can take democratic, pluralistic, civil-rights-oriented, conservative, progressive, nationalist, or other forms. Historical research documents Christian movements both supporting and opposing authoritarianism, racial hierarchy, nationalism, civil rights, internationalism, and democratic reform.
Christian-nationalist political ideology is therefore better understood as one particular way of connecting Christianity, national identity, and state power rather than as the inevitable political expression of Christian belief.
This distinction also explains why some of the strongest opposition to Christian nationalism comes from Christian clergy, theologians, religious organizations, and faith-based democracy movements.
Conclusion
The research collected here shows a recurring empirical relationship between Christian nationalism and several attitudes commonly associated with authoritarian politics, including preferences for strong leaders, tolerance of democratic norm violations, restricted political participation, punitive social control, hierarchy, political intolerance, and conditional acceptance of political violence.
The relationship is particularly pronounced in research involving perceived religious or cultural threat, conspiracy beliefs, social dominance, racial or national in-group protection, and political emergencies. Christian-nationalist narratives can frame political conflict as a struggle over the survival of a divinely favored nation, potentially making institutional restraints and political compromise appear less legitimate.
At the same time, the research does not support treating Christian nationalism as synonymous with authoritarianism or Christianity. Christian nationalism encompasses different ideological and theological movements, and its meaning can vary by race, religion, political identity, and social context.
Measurement debates also remain important. Scholars continue to investigate whether widely used Christian-nationalism scales measure the same underlying worldview across different groups and whether observed relationships result from Christian nationalism itself or from overlapping forces such as partisanship, perceived threat, racial attitudes, social hierarchy, populism, and political polarization.
Taken together, the literature suggests that Christian nationalism is an important factor in contemporary research on authoritarianism and democratic governance, but one that should be studied as part of a broader network of political identities, social hierarchies, religious beliefs, institutional conflicts, and perceptions of national threat.
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Direct Empirical Research
1. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | April 2026
Religion and the Politics of Masculinity. Examines links among traditional gender roles, concepts of masculine strength, Christian nationalism, and authoritarian political attitudes.
2. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 2026
Mapping Christian Nationalism Across the 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2025 American Values Atlas. Finds a strong correlation between Christian-nationalist identification and the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, while documenting large differences among adherents, sympathizers, skeptics, and rejecters.
3. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | November 7, 2025
Inside the Authoritarian-Christian Nationalism Link: Exploring Key Drivers. Uses the 2025 American Values Survey to examine which demographic, religious, and political characteristics predict both Christian nationalism and authoritarian attitudes.
4. | Michael R. Fisher Jr. | Public Religion Research Institute | June 18, 2025
Understanding Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism by Race. Examines differences in the relationship between Christian nationalism and authoritarianism among Black, Hispanic, and white Americans, showing that the connection varies depending on the authoritarianism measure employed.
5. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2025
Democracy at a Crossroads: How Americans View Trump’s First 100 Days in Office. Finds right-wing authoritarian scores considerably higher among Americans classified as Christian-nationalism adherents and sympathizers than among skeptics and rejecters.
6. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2025
Democracy Today: Insights on Race, Religion, and Democratic Principles. Explores support for strong leaders and finds substantial relationships between Christian-nationalist beliefs and authoritarian governing preferences.
7. | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | September 16, 2024
New Survey Points to Correlation Between Christian Nationalism and Authoritarian Views. Reports PRRI findings showing substantial overlap between Christian-nationalist identification and high scores on authoritarianism measures.
8. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | September 10, 2024
One Leader Under God: The Connection Between Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism in America. A national survey of more than 5,000 Americans examines Christian nationalism alongside right-wing authoritarianism, child-rearing authoritarianism, support for strong leaders, democratic norms, political violence, immigration, patriarchy, and cultural change.
9. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | September 10, 2024
Survey: Four in Ten Americans Are Susceptible to Authoritarianism, But Most Still Reject Political Violence. PRRI reports that authoritarian attitudes are substantially more common among Christian-nationalism supporters than among those who reject the ideology while emphasizing that most Americans reject political violence.
10. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 8, 2023
A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture. Examines Christian nationalism in relation to authoritarian leadership, obedience, racial attitudes, patriarchy, antisemitism, anti-Muslim attitudes, immigration, and political violence.
Democratic Norms, Participation, and Executive Power
11. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | September 24, 2026
Survey: New Report Analyzes the Two-Thirds of Americans Who Resist Christian Nationalism. Reports a strong relationship between rejection of Christian-nationalist beliefs and support for democratic principles.
12. | Brooklyn Walker and Paul A. Djupe | Religion News Service | August 21, 2026
Christian Nationalists’ Professed Support for Religious Pluralism Is Often Drowned Out by Perceptions That Christians Are Under Threat. Summarizes experimental research suggesting perceived threats can reduce political tolerance among people who otherwise endorse pluralistic principles.
13. | Paul A. Djupe and Brooklyn Walker | Politics and Religion | March 26, 2026
The Weakness of Anti-Christian Nationalism: When Religiously Inclusive Orientations Can’t Increase Tolerance. Finds that professed pluralistic values do not necessarily counter Christian-nationalist effects on political tolerance when respondents perceive significant threat.
14. | Allyson F. Shortle | Saint Anselm College | 2026
Christian Nationalism as Democratic and Religious Threat. Examines how a highly motivated Christian-nationalist constituency can acquire political influence despite broader public resistance to its beliefs.
15. | Hannah Criser | Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies | 2025
Holy Disregard: Christian Nationalists More Likely to Accept Democratic Norm Violations from Fellow Citizens. Examines tolerance for political violence, voter suppression, and refusal to accept election results among Americans holding Christian-nationalist views.
16. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2025
Christian Nationalism Across All 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2024 American Values Atlas. Examines Christian-nationalist adherents’ confidence in democracy, views of political authority, and changing perceptions following the 2024 presidential election.
17. | PRRI Staff and Meanings of Democracy Lab | Public Religion Research Institute | October 30, 2024
Resistance to Christian Nationalism in All 50 States. Examines Americans who reject or remain skeptical of Christian-nationalist beliefs and their attitudes toward pluralism and democracy.
18. | Samuel L. Perry and Joshua B. Grubbs | Politics and Religion | September 19, 2024
Christian Nationalism and Support for Leaders Violating Democratic Norms During National Emergencies. National survey data find Christian nationalism strongly predicts willingness to allow leaders to suspend elections, suppress opponents, and disregard institutional checks during hypothetical emergencies.
19. | Rosemary Al-Kire | The Immanent Frame / Social Science Research Council | November 15, 2023
When Does Christian Nationalism Promote Anti-Democratic Attitudes? Discusses research comparing Christian nationalism with social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, populism, and polarization as predictors of anti-democratic attitudes.
Christian Nationalism’s Impact on Democracy. Scholars and religious leaders discuss how Christian nationalism differs from ordinary religious political participation and examine arguments that some versions threaten pluralism and democratic institutions.
21. | Joshua T. Davis, Samuel L. Perry, and Joshua B. Grubbs | Sociology of Religion | May 8, 2023
Liberty for Us, Limits for Them: Christian Nationalism and Americans’ Views on Citizens’ Rights. Investigates how Christian nationalism relates to beliefs about which people and groups deserve particular civil and political rights.
22. | Joshua T. Davis, Samuel L. Perry, and Joshua B. Grubbs | Sociology of Religion | May 8, 2023
Liberty for Us, Limits for Them: Christian Nationalism and Americans’ Views on Citizens’ Rights. Finds Christian nationalism predicts prioritization of gun rights, religious freedom, and states’ rights while predicting lower prioritization of several procedural and civil liberties.
23. | Allyson F. Shortle | The Washington Post | September 1, 2022
Americans Are Growing More Accepting of Christian Nationalism. Discusses survey evidence connecting beliefs about a divinely favored America with receptiveness to strong-leader government unconstrained by Congress or courts.
24. | Samuel L. Perry, Andrew L. Whitehead, and Joshua B. Grubbs | Sociological Forum | January 3, 2022
“I Don’t Want Everybody to Vote”: Christian Nationalism and Restricting Voter Access in the United States. National survey research finds Christian nationalism predicts beliefs that voting is too easy, voter fraud is widespread, voter suppression is not a major problem, and certain citizens should be disenfranchised.
“I Don’t Want Everybody to Vote”: Christian Nationalism and Restricting Voter Access in the United States. Open-access manuscript emphasizing the authors’ argument that Christian nationalism can legitimize hierarchical concepts of citizenship and political participation.
26. | Samuel L. Perry, Andrew L. Whitehead, and others | Social Problems | March 20, 2020
White Christian Nationalism and Relative Political Tolerance for Racists. Finds white Christian nationalism associated with lower political tolerance across several disliked groups while producing comparatively greater tolerance for explicitly racist groups.
Political Violence, January 6, Guns, and Coercion
27. | David E. Campbell and Geoffrey C. Layman | Politics and Religion | July 13, 2026
Backlash to Christian Nationalism: The Impact of the January 6th Insurrection on Americans’ Religiosity and Political Partisanship. Finds recollection of Christian-nationalist symbolism on January 6 was associated with religious and partisan backlash among some Americans.
An Army for God: Gun Ownership, Christian Nationalism, and Support for Political Violence. Finds Christian nationalism and gun-owner identity each relate to support for political violence and that gun identity can amplify the association.
29. | Author listed by publisher | Defence and Peace Economics | 2026
Christian Nationalism, Apocalypticism, Outgroup Hate, and Support for Violent Extremism. Uses survey data to examine whether apocalyptic beliefs and hostility toward outgroups help explain the relationship between Christian nationalism and support for political violence.
Christian Nationalism: Since January 6. Historical analysis of Christian-nationalist symbols surrounding January 6 and subsequent connections to election politics, white supremacy, replacement narratives, and authoritarian appeals.
31. | Lisa Hagen | NPR | October 24, 2024
How Charlie Kirk’s Groups Are Trying to Elect Trump. Investigates political mobilization involving Christian nationalism, spiritual warfare, and the Seven Mountain Mandate.
32. | Hannah Allam | The Washington Post | July 13, 2024
Pro-Trump Christian Extremists Use Scripture to Justify Violent Goals. Investigates spiritual-warfare rhetoric and the use of biblical imagery to portray political opponents as existential or religious enemies.
33. | Authors listed by Cambridge University Press | Politics and Religion | 2024
Division on the Christian Right: Republican Pastors and the Use of Force. Examines when Christian-nationalist orientations among conservative religious leaders are associated with greater willingness to legitimize political force.
34. | Peter Smith | Associated Press | 2024
Influential Prophesizing Pastors Believe Reelecting Trump Is a Win in the War of Angels and Demons. Reports on charismatic political networks framing elections as spiritual warfare and promoting Christian dominion over major social institutions.
35. | Paul A. Djupe | Religion in Public | June 15, 2023
The Full Armor of God: The Political Mobilization of Christian Nationalism in American Politics. Connects Christian-nationalist mobilization to partisan threat narratives, January 6, and concerns about acceptance of democratic procedures.
36. | Jack Jenkins | The Washington Post | December 29, 2022
Faith Leaders Ask Why Jan. 6 Report Left Out Christian Nationalism. Examines criticism that the House January 6 report gave insufficient attention to religious ideas, prophecies, and Christian-nationalist organizing surrounding the attack.
37. | Samuel L. Perry and Philip S. Gorski | The Washington Post | May 20, 2022
With the Buffalo Massacre, White Christian Nationalism Strikes Again. A perspective piece connecting ethnoreligious nationalism, racial hierarchy, social order, and political violence while distinguishing them from ordinary Christian belief.
38. | Michelle Boorstein | The Washington Post | March 18, 2022
Researchers Warn That Christian Nationalists Are Becoming More Radical and Are Targeting Voting. Covers congressional discussion of Christian nationalism, January 6, voter restrictions, and political radicalization.
39. | Jack Jenkins | The Washington Post | January 26, 2022
How the Capitol Attacks Helped Spread Christian Nationalism in the Extreme Right. Reports on researchers tracking the growing use of Christian-nationalist language and symbolism across extremist networks after January 6.
40. | Miles T. Armaly, David T. Buckley, and Adam M. Enders | Political Behavior | January 4, 2022
Christian Nationalism and Political Violence: Victimhood, Racial Identity, Conspiracy, and Support for the Capitol Attacks. Finds Christian-nationalist beliefs interact with perceived victimhood, racial identity, and conspiracy beliefs in predicting support for the January 6 Capitol attack.
41. | Miles T. Armaly, David T. Buckley, and Adam M. Enders | Political Behavior | January 4, 2022
Christian Nationalism and Political Violence: Victimhood, Racial Identity, Conspiracy, and Support for the Capitol Attacks. Shows that Christian nationalism interacts with perceived victimhood, racial identity, and conspiracy thinking when predicting support for the January 6 Capitol attack.
42. | Miles T. Armaly, David T. Buckley, and Adam M. Enders | Political Behavior / PubMed Central | 2022
Christian Nationalism and Political Violence. Open-access version of the study examining the circumstances under which Christian-nationalist beliefs are associated with approval of anti-institutional political violence.
43. | Andrew L. Whitehead, Landon Schnabel, and Samuel L. Perry | Socius | July 23, 2018
Gun Control in the Crosshairs: Christian Nationalism and Opposition to Stricter Gun Laws. Finds Christian nationalism strongly predicts opposition to stricter gun laws even after accounting for general authoritarianism.
Authoritarian Social Control, Public Policy, and Social Order
44. | Samuel L. Perry and Andrew L. Whitehead | Social Forces | April 24, 2026
Culture Wars and Classism: Christian Nationalism, Economic Position, and Americans’ Approval of Inequality. Examines how Christian nationalism interacts with economic position and attitudes toward inequality and social hierarchy.
45. | Samuel L. Perry | Sociology of Religion | January 10, 2026
The Christianity of Capital? Christian Nationalism, Socioeconomic Status, and Divergent Views on Organized Labor. Examines how Christian nationalism intersects with economic hierarchy and attitudes toward organized labor.
46. | Mahesh Somashekhar and Ian Kennedy | Sociology of Religion | 2026
The Business of Christian Nationalism: Examining Retailers’ Self-Descriptions on a Conservative Christian Alternative to Amazon.com. Studies how Christian-nationalist identity becomes embedded in parallel commercial and cultural institutions.
47. | Chip Rotolo, Gregory A. Smith, and Jonathan Evans | Pew Research Center | March 15, 2024
Christianity’s Place in Politics, and Christian Nationalism. Provides national survey data on official religion, government promotion of Christian values, biblical influence on law, and church-state separation.
48. | Chinyere H. Seto and Samuel L. Perry | Ethnic and Racial Studies | 2024
Lay Down Your Sword? Christian Nationalism, Race, and Opposition to Requiring Gun Permits. Explores Christian nationalism, race, gun policy, and resistance to state regulation of firearms.
Controlling the Past to Control the Future: Christian Nationalism and Mandatory Patriotic Education in Public Schools. Examines Christian-nationalist support for state-mandated patriotic narratives in education and the politics of controlling national historical memory.
Race Over Religion: Christian Nationalism and Perceived Threats to National Unity. Investigates how racialized and religious conceptions of national identity influence perceptions of who threatens American unity.
51. | Samuel L. Perry, Andrew L. Whitehead, and Joshua B. Grubbs | Sociology of Religion | 2021
Save the Economy, Liberty, and Yourself: Christian Nationalism and Americans’ Views on Government COVID-19 Restrictions. Examines Christian nationalism, individual liberty claims, government authority, and public-health restrictions during the pandemic.
52. | Samuel L. Perry, Andrew L. Whitehead, and Joshua B. Grubbs | PubMed Central | 2021
Save the Economy, Liberty, and Yourself. Open-access version discussing the coexistence of authoritarian and libertarian impulses within Christian nationalism.
53. | Samuel L. Perry, Andrew L. Whitehead, and Joshua B. Grubbs | Ethnic and Racial Studies | 2020
Prejudice and Pandemic in the Promised Land: How White Christian Nationalism Shapes Americans’ Racist and Xenophobic Views of COVID-19. Examines the relationship between Christian-nationalist beliefs, xenophobia, racial attitudes, and pandemic politics.
54. | Joshua Davis | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | June 22, 2018
Enforcing Christian Nationalism: Examining the Link Between Group Identity and Punitive Attitudes in the United States. Finds Christian nationalism predicts support for capital punishment, harsher federal punishment, and government crackdowns on perceived troublemakers.
Conspiracy, Threat, Epistemic Authority, and Authoritarian Psychology
Judgement by Fire: The Rapid Anti-Democratic Turn of American Christian Nationalism. Argues that demographic decline, partisan sorting, threat narratives, and apocalyptic political framing have contributed to increasingly anti-democratic forms of Christian-nationalist mobilization.
The Full Armor of God: The Mobilization of Christian Nationalism in American Politics. Summarizes research emphasizing social dominance, partisan mobilization, threat narratives, and consequences for support of democratic procedures.
57. | Joseph O. Baker and colleagues | Nations and Nationalism | 2024/2026
Faith Over Fear? Christian Nationalism and Cultural Fears in the United States. Examines the role of perceived cultural threat and fear in structuring Christian-nationalist political attitudes.
The Failure of the Contact Hypothesis—Exposure to Religious Diversity Conditions Apocalyptic Politics. Studies apocalypticism, perceived persecution, religious diversity, and political hostility within the broader environment in which Christian nationalism operates.
59. | Researchers summarized by Religion News Service | Religion News Service | January 23, 2025
Attitudes Toward Christian Nationalism Don’t Just Boil Down to Views on Race, Religion and History. Reports research finding loyalty, sanctity, liberty, and fairness orientations help predict Christian-nationalist beliefs, while conventional respect-for-authority measures did not independently distinguish supporters in that study.
60. | Paul A. Djupe, Andrew R. Lewis, and Anand E. Sokhey | Cambridge University Press | June 15, 2023
The Full Armor of God: The Mobilization of Christian Nationalism in American Politics. A research synthesis explaining Christian nationalism through measurement, mechanisms, and political mobilization rather than treating the worldview as an isolated personal belief system.
61. | Brooklyn Walker and Abigail Vegter | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | May 8, 2023
Christ, Country, and Conspiracies? Christian Nationalism, Biblical Literalism, and Belief in Conspiracy Theories. Finds Christian nationalism and biblical literalism independently predict generalized conspiracy thinking, with particularly strong effects when combined.
62. | Nicholas T. Davis | Politics and Religion | July 11, 2022
The Psychometric Properties of the Christian Nationalism Scale. Questions assumptions about the widely used six-item measure and demonstrates potential classification and measurement problems.
Historical Fundamentalism? Christian Nationalism and Ignorance About Religion in American Political History. Examines whether Christian nationalism is associated with confidently inaccurate understandings of religion’s place in American constitutional and political history.
64. | Joseph O. Baker, Samuel L. Perry, and Andrew L. Whitehead | Sociological Forum | 2020
Crusading for Moral Authority: Christian Nationalism and Opposition to Science. Studies Christian nationalism as a competing source of moral and epistemic authority and its relationship to attitudes toward science.
Strong Leaders, Trump, and Authoritarian Populism
65. | Amy Brooke Grauley | Political Behavior | September 29, 2025
“We Should All Be Christian Nationalists”: Elite Influence on Identification with Christian Nationalism. Experimental research examines how elite political cues affect willingness to adopt the Christian-nationalist label.
66. | Religion News Service Staff | Religion News Service | October 14, 2024
10 Takeaways from the RNS 90th Anniversary Symposium and Gala. Highlights PRRI evidence on the overlap between Christian nationalism and authoritarian views while noting that majorities of Americans reject both.
67. | Religion News Service Staff | Religion News Service | October 11, 2024
RNS at 90: Covering Faith Amid Crisis and Change. Summarizes discussions among scholars and journalists about Christian nationalism, authoritarianism, hierarchy, immigration, and the religious legitimation of strong leaders.
68. | Samuel L. Perry | Politics and Religion | October 2, 2024
Which Political Entities Are “Friendly” to Religion? Shows how Christian nationalism and partisan identity shape perceptions of political institutions, parties, and the Supreme Court.
69. | Laura Barrón-López and Brad Onishi | PBS NewsHour | February 1, 2024
What Is Christian Nationalism and Why It Raises Concerns About Threats to Democracy. Discusses New Apostolic Reformation networks, election denial, January 6, and claims of divinely authorized political leadership.
70. | Robert P. Jones | TIME | 2024
Trump’s Christian Nationalist Vision for America. Discusses survey research connecting Christian nationalism with hierarchy, racial resentment, apocalyptic politics, political violence, and strong executive authority.
71. | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | TIME | October 2023
The Christian Nationalism of Speaker Mike Johnson. Examines how ideas about biblical government, election legitimacy, patriarchy, and church-state relations overlap with scholarly definitions of Christian nationalism.
72. | Samuel L. Perry and colleagues | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | May 4, 2023
The Religious Right and Russia: Christian Nationalism and Americans’ Views on Russia and Vladimir Putin Before and After the Ukrainian Invasion. Finds Christian nationalism consistently predicted greater personal favorability toward Putin across several surveys even while attitudes toward Russia varied.
73. | Andrew L. Whitehead | The Washington Post | October 25, 2022
Is Christian Nationalism Growing or Declining? Both. Explains how Christian-nationalist beliefs may decline nationally while simultaneously becoming more visible and influential within partisan political networks.
74. | Jon Abbink / analysis contributors | Foreign Policy | June 18, 2022
In Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed’s Christian Nationalism Is Tearing the Country Apart. Examines religious nationalism, imperial theology, political authority, ethnic conflict, and authoritarian traditions in Ethiopia.
The Devil That You Know: Christian Nationalism and Intent to Change One’s Voting Behavior For or Against Trump in 2020. Examines how Christian-nationalist beliefs affected potential movement toward or away from Trump between presidential elections.
76. | Samuel L. Perry, Andrew L. Whitehead, and Joshua B. Grubbs | Politics and Religion | 2021
The Devil That You Know: Christian Nationalism and Intent to Change One’s Voting Behavior For or Against Trump in 2020. Longitudinal analysis examines Christian nationalism as a factor in sustaining or acquiring support for Trump.
77. | Andrew L. Whitehead | Religion News Service | June 2, 2020
With Bibles and Flash Grenades, Trump Walks the Christian Nationalist Walk. Connects Christian symbolism, political authority, exclusion, militarism, and research linking Christian nationalism with preferences for strong social control.
Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election. Finds Christian nationalism independently predicted support for Trump in 2016 after accounting for numerous economic, racial, religious, and political factors.
79. | Philip S. Gorski | Political Theology | 2018
Christianity and Democracy after Trump. Discusses white Christian nationalism, perceptions of Christian decline, national identity, and the relationship between religious nationalism and Trump-era populism.
Definitions, Varieties, and Movement Structure
80. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | May 14, 2026
How Americans Feel About Religion’s Influence in Government and Public Life. Provides updated national data on religion, government, Christian political influence, church-state separation, and public perceptions of religious activism.
81. | Nilay Saiya | Politics and Religion | May 13, 2025
The Varieties of American Christian Nationalism. Distinguishes charismatic dominionism, Calvinist nationalism, and Catholic integralism and argues that Christian nationalism is not a single homogeneous movement.
82. | Laura Barrón-López and Brad Onishi | PBS NewsHour | February 1, 2024
What Is Christian Nationalism and Why It Raises Concerns. Introduces Christian nationalism as an ideology connecting American national identity with Christianity and discusses its relationship to political power and democratic pluralism.
83. | Laura Flanders and guests | PBS | 2024
God & Country: Christian Nationalism in U.S. Politics. Discussion accompanying the documentary addresses claims that Christian-nationalist political movements can use Christianity to legitimize exclusionary or authoritarian government.
84. | Bob Smietana | The Washington Post | May 19, 2023
What Is Christian Nationalism Anyway? Surveys competing scholarly, journalistic, and activist definitions, including disagreements about Christian supremacy, dominionism, patriotism, and the use of political coercion.
85. | Jemar Tisby | TIME | January 2023
Christian Nationalism’s Popularity Should Be a Wake-Up Call. A commentary examining apocalyptic narratives, political fear, democracy, and the potential legitimation of drastic political measures.
86. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | October 27, 2022
Views of the U.S. as a Christian Nation and Opinions About Christian Nationalism. National survey distinguishes support for Christian cultural influence from explicit endorsement of Christian nationalism and documents how Americans themselves understand the term.
87. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | October 27, 2022
In Their Own Words: How Americans Describe Christian Nationalism. Shows that Americans define the phrase in divergent ways ranging from moral influence and patriotism to theocracy, exclusion, racism, and authoritarian government.
88. | Andrew L. Whitehead | TIME | September 2022
3 Threats Christian Nationalism Poses to the United States. Summarizes social-science findings concerning authoritarian control, racial boundaries, social hierarchy, democratic exclusion, and political violence.
89. | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | March 19, 2020
A House Dividing. Introduces Christian nationalism as a cultural framework linking Christianity with American civic identity and emphasizes that it should not be treated as synonymous with Christianity, religiosity, conservatism, racism, or authoritarianism.
Race, Immigration, In-Groups, Hierarchy, and Exclusion
Religion Is Sometimes Raced: Christian Nationalism as In-Group Protection. Research summary explaining how racial context moderates Christian nationalism’s relationship to public policy attitudes.
91. | Christopher H. Seto | Sociology of Religion | May 24, 2026
In God We Trust: Christian Nationalism, Political and Ethno-Racial Identities, and Distrust of Immigrants. Finds Christian nationalism associated with greater immigrant distrust, with relationships differing by political and racial identity.
92. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | March 30, 2026
How Christian Nationalism Affects Views on Immigration. Examines Christian-nationalist identification alongside attitudes toward immigration, national belonging, and restrictive immigration policies.
93. | Christopher H. Seto | Sociology of Religion | 2026
The Faces of God’s Country: Christian Nationalism in the United States and the Implicit Association of Asian Faces with Foreignness. Examines whether Christian-nationalist beliefs are associated with implicitly coding Asian Americans as less American.
94. | David Sikkink and Michael Emerson | Sociology of Religion | November 3, 2025
The Gathering Storm in the Evangelical Field: Education, Christian Nationalism, and Racial Inequality. Examines divisions among evangelicals over racial inequality and finds Christian-nationalist orientation significantly structures those divisions.
Religion Is Sometimes Raced: Christian Nationalism as In-Group Protection. Finds that Christian nationalism can operate as sacralized protection of different racial in-groups rather than functioning identically across white, Black, and Latino Christians.
White or Woke Christian Nationalists? How Race Moderates the Link Between Christian Nationalism and Progressive Identities. Challenges assumptions that the same Christian-nationalist scale necessarily represents identical ideological content across racial groups.
97. | Darren E. Sherkat and Derek Lehman | Social Science Quarterly | September 26, 2018
Bad Samaritans: Religion and Anti-Immigrant and Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the United States. Finds Christian nationalism contributes to negative views of immigrants and Muslims alongside other religious and political factors.
Divine Boundaries: How Religion Shapes Citizens’ Attitudes Toward Immigrants. Finds Christian nationalism is a robust predictor of anti-immigrant attitudes and symbolic perceptions of immigrants as threats to American identity.
Gender Hierarchy, Masculinity, and Patriarchal Authority
99. | Steve Burghardt | Oxford University Press | May 27, 2026
The Disquieting Strategic Smarts Behind Christian Nationalism. Examines long-term Christian-right organizing, patriarchal social ideology, Project 2025, and claims about authoritarian governance.
100. | Paul A. Djupe and Brooklyn Walker | Sociology of Religion | March 8, 2025
Jesus and John Wayne Wannabes: How Christian Nationalism and Femininity Shape Extreme Politics Among Men in the US. Investigates masculine and feminine identity orientations, Christian nationalism, and support for extreme political attitudes among men.
101. | Authors listed by publisher | Religions | 2025
Political Polarization and Christian Nationalism in Our Pews. Discusses Christian nationalism, right-wing authoritarianism, polarization, political violence, and their implications for congregational life.
102. | Jessica Wai-Fong Wong | Religions | August 29, 2024
Dreams of American Christendom: White Evangelicals’ Political Pursuit of a Christian Order without Christ. Theological analysis examines ideas of divine social order, evangelical political mobilization, Christian nationalism, and hierarchical concepts of society.
Rights, Religious Liberty, and State Power
103. | UMass Amherst Poll | University of Massachusetts Amherst | April 2026
Views on the Nation and What Makes Us American as the U.S. Approaches 250. Survey measures support for declaring the United States a Christian nation, government advocacy of Christian values, and church-state separation.
104. | Center for American Progress Contributors | Center for American Progress | 2026
Religious Liberty for All: Celebrating This Founding Freedom at America 250. Discusses the distinction between faith participation in public life and government privileging of one religion.
105. | Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons and Maggie Siddiqi | Center for American Progress | April 13, 2022
Christian Nationalism Is ‘Single Biggest Threat’ to America’s Religious Freedom. Interview with Amanda Tyler discussing church-state separation, government-sponsored religion, religious minorities, and Christian nationalism.
106. | Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons | Center for American Progress | January 2022
Christians Have a Role to Play in Defending U.S. Democracy. Interview contrasts inclusive religious political participation with Christian-nationalist understandings of national identity and power.
107. | Center for American Progress and Auburn Seminary | Center for American Progress | February 2021
The Pro-Democracy Faith Movement. Documents religious mobilization defending election legitimacy and democratic norms while discussing Christian nationalism surrounding January 6.
Comparative Religious Nationalism and Democracy
108. | Interview/analysis | Le Monde | February 6, 2026
In the US, Christian Nationalism Contributes to the Dismantling of Democracy. Discusses dominionism, New Apostolic Reformation political theology, Catholic integralism, religious hierarchy, and challenges to democratic pluralism.
109. | John Ishiyama | Politics and Religion | September 15, 2025
Christian Nationalism and Attitudes About Democracy in Africa. Using Afrobarometer data, finds Christian-nationalist attitudes associated with lower support for democracy and greater receptiveness to authoritarian alternatives in African countries.
110. | Nilay Saiya | Politics and Religion | June 2025
The Varieties of American Christian Nationalism. Comparative typology provides a framework for distinguishing differing Christian-nationalist concepts of state power.
111. | John Ishiyama | Politics and Religion | 2025
Christian Nationalism and Democracy in Africa. Journal issue listing and abstract documenting one of the first cross-national mass-attitude tests of Christian nationalism and authoritarian alternatives in Africa.
112. | Nilay Saiya | The Review of Faith & International Affairs | 2023
Christian Nationalism’s Threat to Global Democracy. Argues that Christian nationalism should be examined as a global phenomenon potentially linked with democratic decline rather than as an exclusively American movement.
113. | Various Authors | Foreign Affairs | Various
Religion, Populism, and Democratic Backsliding. Foreign Affairs analyses of democratic erosion and nationalist politics provide comparative context for distinguishing Christian nationalism from other religious-nationalist movements.
114. | V-Dem Institute | University of Gothenburg | Ongoing
Democracy Reports and Global Democratic Backsliding Data. Comparative democracy datasets provide broader empirical context for evaluating claims about authoritarian movements, executive aggrandizement, and democratic erosion internationally.
115. | Afrobarometer | Afrobarometer | Ongoing
African Public Opinion Data on Democracy, Religion, and Authoritarian Alternatives. Survey database underlying comparative work examining Christian nationalism and democratic attitudes across African populations.
116. | Freedom House | Freedom House | Annual
Freedom in the World. Global reports document changes in political rights, civil liberties, institutional constraints, and authoritarian governance relevant to comparative studies of religious nationalism.
Measurement and Scholarly Critiques
117. | Jesse Smith | Sociological Forum | August 11, 2024
Old Wine in New Wineskins: Christian Nationalism, Authoritarianism, and the Problem of Essentialism in Explanations of Religiopolitical Conflict. Critiques scholarship that assumes Christian-nationalist respondents have inherently authoritarian motives and argues for greater attention to alternative explanations and political polarization.
118. | Nicholas T. Davis | Politics and Religion | July 11, 2022
The Psychometric Properties of the Christian Nationalism Scale. Questions whether the widely used six-item Christian-nationalism scale functions as a clean interval measure and calls for closer alignment between theoretical claims and empirical measurement.
Historical and Ideological Context
119. | Audrey Clare Farley | TIME | 2024
The Roots of James Dobson’s Political Power. Reviews debates over authoritarian parenting, hierarchical family structures, evangelical politics, and their possible connections to later Christian-nationalist political orientations.
120. | Gene Zubovich | The Washington Post | May 6, 2022
Christian Nationalism Is Surging. It Wasn’t Inevitable. Traces competing twentieth-century Christian understandings of nationalism, internationalism, human rights, and authoritarianism.
Contemporary Reporting and Movement Analysis
121. | Ray Kirstein and Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Religion News Service | March 7, 2026
The Downward Arc of Donald Trump, With Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Discusses historical strongman politics and the recurring use of religious language and institutions to legitimize personalist authority.
122. | Jennifer Butler | Religion News Service | December 18, 2025
The Christian Nationalist Worldview Behind America’s New Security Posture. Commentary considering how religious nationalism may provide moral justification for concentrated political power and exclusionary concepts of national identity.
123. | Religion News Service | Religion News Service | December 10, 2025
Christ Church at 50: How Doug Wilson Pushed Christian Nationalism to the Center. Examines one Calvinist Christian-nationalist network, its political strategy, claims about Christian authority, and disputes over religious freedom and democratic governance.
124. | Robert P. Jones | TIME | November 2024
What White Christians Have Wrought. An opinion analysis connecting white Christian political identity, Christian nationalism, strongman politics, racial hierarchy, and comparative examples of religious legitimation of authoritarian government.
125. | Bob Smietana | Religion News Service | May 30, 2024
Bad Faith Sounds the Alarm on the Past and Future of Christian Nationalism. Interview and documentary discussion covering the rise of the Religious Right, political power, racial history, authoritarianism, and abortion politics.
126. | To the Contrary | PBS | 2024
How Project 2025 Impacts the Separation of Church and State. Discussion of claims by church-state advocacy groups that proposals for expanded presidential control and conservative religious policy goals overlap with Christian-nationalist objectives.
127. | Center for American Progress Staff | Center for American Progress | 2024
Project 2025 Would Destroy the U.S. System of Checks and Balances and Create an Imperial Presidency. A critical policy analysis argues that Project 2025 combines expansive presidential control with policy priorities associated with Christian nationalism.
128. | Brookings Institution and PRRI | Brookings Institution | February 8, 2023
Understanding the Threat of White Christian Nationalism to American Democracy Today. Expert panel examining Christian nationalism, authoritarianism, white identity, antisemitism, immigration, patriarchy, violence, and democratic institutions.
129. | PRRI and Brookings Institution | Public Religion Research Institute | February 8, 2023
A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture. National survey provides baseline measures connecting Christian nationalism with authoritarian leadership, political violence, racial resentment, patriarchy, and religious exclusion.
