National health insurance and the American Dream: Cultural influences and public opinion.

Abstract

This study tests James Davison Hunter's cultural polarization thesis which suggests members within religious denominations are more influenced by "progressive" or "traditional" value frameworks rather than earlier denominational distinctions (e.g. Catholic, Protestant, Jew). Catholics leadership have recently supported national health insurance. It was hypothesized then, that Catholics as a group would be in favor of national health insurance compared to non-Catholics within both categories of "progressive/liberal" and "traditionalist/conservative." Two data sets were analyzed, the 1994 Washington Post Health Care Survey and the 1994 National Election Study. It was found that Catholics as a group were no different than non-Catholics regarding attitudes toward nation health insurance, even within liberal and conservative categories.