CONSCIENTIOUS-OBJECTORS IN THE CULTURE WAR - A TYPOLOGY OF ATTITUDES TOWARD CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS

In this study we investigate the various types of church-state positio ns taken by members of the mass public. We propose a typology of attit udes on church-state issues, and test that typology with a cluster ana lysis of a survey of residents of the Washington, D.C. area. We confir m that there are four main Positions on free exercise and establishmen t issues. Attitudes toward questions of religious establishment and fr ee exercise are substantially independent, and attitudes toward religi ous free exercise are not directly related to religiosity or religious orthodoxy. These findings suggest that the ''culture wars'' thesis ma y be empirically inadequate as a description of contemporary American politics.