When states introduce legislation in favor of religious organizations, citizens begin to attend church more often, and their attitudes toward issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights become more conservative. This is the finding of a new study from the University of Copenhagen.
The United States is an interesting country to study when it comes to the relationship between church and state. Unlike Denmark, Americans do not have an official state religion. At the same time, it has for many years seemed almost unthinkable to win the presidential election without appealing to Christian voters. There is a long-standing tradition of presidents being sworn in with one hand on the Bible-although this is not required by law.
Despite the formal separation of church and state, several U.S. presidents have, over the years, attempted to bring the two closer together. A research group from the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen has investigated how the population is affected when the state "goes to church."
Their conclusion: In states that introduce legislation benefiting religious organizations, researchers can measure an increase in religiosity among the Protestant population - those who share a religion with policymakers. Protestants simply start going to church more often. Furthermore, researchers found a rise in conservative attitudes toward issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
Religiosity and Conservatism
The researchers focused on legislative changes made between 1996 and 2009. The earliest laws were inspired by George W. Bush, who at the time served as a governor before later becoming president. Because the laws were introduced at different times across different federated states, researchers could measure their effects at the state level.
"The idea behind these legislative changes was to bring religious institutions more actively into society. The government made it easier for religious organizations to receive public funding, involved them in public services, and created government offices for them," says Professor Jeanet Sinding Bentzen.
Improved conditions led to an increase in the number of religious organizations, which heightened religious exposure in American society. These organizations serve many purposes - from religiously affiliated abortion clinics to substance-abuse treatment centers, Bentzen notes.
In addition to the rise in religious organizations, there was also a measurable impact on the population in the affected states - at least among those who shared the religion of the policymakers.
Protestant Christians began attending church more frequently. Nine percent of Christians who previously did not attend church monthly started doing so after the reforms, while other religious groups did not change their behavior.
"This leads to increased polarization within society. We are not the first researchers to point this out. The religious become more religious and thus move further away from nonreligious groups and members of other faiths," says Bentzen.
Beyond increased church attendance, researchers observed more conservative attitudes toward abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as a widening wage and education gap between men and women in states where religious legislation was introduced.
"The effects don't emerge immediately. We have data from a 13-year period, and we can see that the number of religious organizations began rising shortly after the new laws were introduced - within a year. It takes several more years before the legislation begins to influence religiosity and conservative attitudes," Bentzen explains.
Politics Influence Inner Values
The study "Divine Policy: The Impact of Religion in Government" was published in February 2026 in AEJ: Applied Economics.
Authors:
- Jeanet Sinding Bentzen and Alessandro Pizzigolotto, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen
- Lena Lindbjerg Sperling, ROCKWOOL Foundation
The study is based on data from U.S. states covering the period 1996-2009.
One might assume that the people most affected would be users of the social services run by these religious organizations.
"One could imagine that the individuals who benefit from the support of religious organizations might become more religious. But when we examined this, we found no such pattern. The effect was roughly the same across different socioeconomic groups," Bentzen says.
In the coming years, she and her colleagues plan to investigate the relationship between religiosity and politics in countries such as Brazil and possibly Denmark.
"It is a truly fascinating research area. What makes this project so interesting is that we can observe how a political intervention significantly changes people's internal values within just a few years - to a degree that becomes visible at the societal level," says Bentzen.
