Religious Economy or Organizational Field? Predicting Bishops' Votes at the Second Vatican Council

• Published in: American sociological review Vol. 75; no. 4; pp. 586 - 606
• Main Authors: Wilde, Melissa J., Geraty, Kristin, Nelson, Shelley L., Bowman, Emily A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA Sage Publications 01-08-2010; SAGE Publications; American Sociological Association
• Subjects: Catholic churches; Catholicism; Catholics; Christianity; Clergy; Competition; Councils; Countries; Ecumenism; Efficiency; Incumbents; Leaders; Legitimacy; Market share; Market shares; Modeling; Organizational change; Organizational research; Pope; Protestantism; Protestants; Rational Choice; Rational choice theory; Reforms; Religion; Religions; Religious change; Religious leaders; Religious orders; Secrecy; Social Environment; Sociological theory; Sociology; Sociology of Religion; Studies; Theorists; Theory; Vatican; Vatican City; Voter behavior; Voting; Voting Behavior; Voting behaviour; Indiana; United States > US; Rational Choice Theory; Vatican II; Neo-Institutional Theory; religious change; voting behavior; Bishop; Rational choice; Preference; Social Environment; Legitimacy; Election; Institutions; Nationality
• ISSN: 0003-1224; 1939-8271
• DOI: 10.1177/0003122410368927

This article explores the national factors that predict bishops' votes on two of the most contentious issues at the Second Vatican Council. Using data obtained from the Vatican Secret Archive, analyses demonstrate that rational choice oriented theory in the sociology of religion that focuses on competition is limited. While competition is important to religious leaders' actions, its effects can be understood only in relation to other crucial characteristics of the social environment within which leaders operate. These characteristics, which we derive from Neo-Institutional Theory (NIT), shape leaders' interests and often lead them to prioritize concerns about their institutions' legitimacy over the concerns about efficiency and growth rational choice theorists assume are predominant. Most NIT studies examine the population of firms within one organizational field. Because we hold firm constant and examine how variation in the type of organizational field (supplied by the more than 100 countries in our analyses) predicts firm leaders' actions, this study represents a unique test of NIT.