Politics · Brazil · 19 hrs ago
Study finds election campaigning in 3.2% of sampled church services
A study examined 7,456 Catholic, Baptist and Assembly of God services in 25 Brazilian states and the Federal District.
Researchers monitored broadcasts from the two Sundays before the first round of elections.
They counted direct or indirect promotion of or attacks on a candidacy as election campaigning.
That appeared in 237 broadcasts, or 3.2% of the total.
Civic messages, such as calls for responsible voting without favoring a candidate, appeared in 15.3%.
Most of the services did not discuss the election.
The findings challenge the idea that religious leaders commonly direct how their congregations vote, though the study's director said some Pentecostal churches do promote voting more openly.
A study found electoral propaganda in 237, or 3.2%, of 7,456 sampled church services.
Researchers analyzed services across 25 states, excluding Acre, and the Federal District.
The services were held on the two Sundays before the first round of elections, September 20 and 27.
Civic messages appeared in 15.3% of services, five times as often as electoral propaganda.
Most of the 13,886 hours of transcribed material did not mention the elections.
- Who
- More in Common Brasil and Passagens, a research group at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, conducted the study.
- What
- The study found electoral propaganda in 3.2% of sampled church services.
- When
- The services were held on September 20 and 27, the two Sundays before the first round of elections.
- Where
- Across 25 Brazilian states, excluding Acre, and the Federal District.
- Why
- Researchers wanted to measure how much political speech appeared in churches.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
There is a lot of prejudice from the educated world, which is either Catholic or has no religion, against evangelicals, treated as an uninstructed group manipulated by their leaders.
But I can guide you, okay? So, if you freely and voluntarily agree, I’ll put a sticker on your car.
Researchers monitored church services on the two Sundays before the first round of elections.
Folha published the study’s findings.
- Sampled services
- 7,456
- Electoral propaganda
- 237 services (3.2%)
- Civic content
- 1,141 services (15.3%)
- Coverage
- 25 states, excluding Acre, plus the Federal District
- Transcribed material
- 13,886 hours
Sources
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