The goal of this article is the identification of the factors responsible by the political influence of Evangelical groups over their believers and the understanding of how the belonging to a religious faith directs the electoral choice. The sociological approach on vote provided the theoretical framework for the study, especially on the ground of the idea that social groups disseminate information and conform or shape the political attitudes of individuals. Three dimensions were analyzed in dialogue with the Brazilian literature on Evangelical vote: 1) the level of the individual’s integration to the religious group; 2) the model of organization of the churches; 3) the role of the religious leaderships. The empirical evidences for the study were provided by the data collected in the research “Novo Nascimento”, carried out with an Evangelical population of eight cities in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro during the 1994 national elections. The results indicate that the reiterated exposition to religious activities of charismatic nature and the costume of regular attendance to church cults are the most relevant factors for the Evangelical vote.
Evangelical vote; Social groups; Political preference