The Church as a Political Actor Thought exercise: What is the appropriate political role of the religion in a democratic society? What about religious institutions? How would American politics be different if we had one dominant religious tradition? What if our founders had saw the proper role of government and the military as including a an obligation to defend of this faith?

What political role did the church play in Latin American history? Why did the Catholic Church come to dominate Latin American society, while religion didn’t do this in the US? What type of political role did the Church play in the region’s history? (Conservatives vs. Liberals). Why did the Church almost always side with the powerful? What (again) are the essential differences between Catholicism and the Prot. Tradition?: Soc. capital & the role of lay people, worldview/fate/self-reliance, the contestation of ideas & church ownership Is there any history of progressive politics within the early Latin American Catholic church: Yes: Brazil’s Jesuits & Mexico’s (1805) Miguel Hildago (Watch the Mission… Trailer:

Why and when did the Catholic Church become “progressive”? What are “liberation theology,” “Christian base communities,” and “the third way”? – Pope Paul XXIII’s Second Vatican Council ( ); “preferential option for the poor” – The Medellin Conference (1968) – Structural (vs. individual) violence as a sin What specific role did the Catholic Church play in anti-military regime protests? – Organizational space, counter legitimacy, anti-Marxist brand – How and why has the Vatican restrict liberation theology from the 1980s to 2014? How have everyday Latin Americans responded to the Vatican? How have the life experiences of John Paul II (Poland), Ratzinger/Benedict (Germany), and Francis (Argentina) shape their attitudes towards Latin American liberation theology?

A RESEARCH ARTICLE Do LA protestants engage in politics differently than is the case with Catholics? What’s the main theory? Hypotheses? How does Patterson measure his “intervening variables” (interest and efficacy) and his “dependent variables” (protest, participation) for Brazil and Chile? Where does he get his data from? (Where can you get his data from?)

A RESEARCH ARTICLE What’s the main theory? Hypotheses? How does Patterson measure his “intervening variables” (interest and efficacy) and his “dependent variables” (protest, participation) for Brazil and Chile? Where does he get his data from? Where can you get his data from if you wanted to replicate this?

A MINI WORKSHOP: SOME STATISTICS How do you graph a bivariate relationship (X, Y) What is a regression line? What’s a correlation (R)? What’s the slope (b = regression coefficient)? What happens if you square the R (R2)? When are R, R2, and b “significant”? Plants and water All statistics from samples have standard errors. What are they? How do you control for a variable? Hours of study and calc grade (those without a pre-calc class vs. those with it) Why do we sometimes use B (beta coefficients)? Measuring impact of height vs weight on age at death, Percentile or raw? What’s the linearity assumption? Cactus and H20; Injuries and whether our bb team eins? What is the relationship between various variables and political participation and protest activity?

OPERATIONALIZING AND MEASURING VARIABLES

MEASURING VARIABLES (CONTINUED)