Replication Data for: When Do Voters Reward Overtly Religious Appeals?

Under what conditions do politicians make overtly religious appeals in front of mixed secular-religious audiences? In the US context, other scholars have argued for the strategic usefulness of multi-vocal appeals: religious politicians can use coded language to win support from religious voters without losing support from secular ones. However, US politicians often use overtly religious language (uni-vocal appeals) in their communications to mixed audiences, at the risk of losing support from secular voters. This pattern presents a puzzle that we address using a series of formal models and a large online survey experiment. We argue that when religious-secular cleavages are sensationalized, making religious voters see dangers in placating secular voters (and vice versa), religious voters are more likely to reward overtly religious messages and less likely to reward multivocal appeals. Under these conditions, religious politicians become more likely to use overtly religious language in their political messaging.