I would say it is more cultural than political. While religion is used to control the masses in many areas, that would not explain the current uprisings against the religious leaders in Iran. In that specific case, the population is not quite so religious as advertised and the corruption/brutality of the government has brought unrest.

The USA is another interesting case. The religion embracing conservatives are willing to accept a leader who is by no means a moral Christian in the hopes of stopping the progressive changes the country has seen in the past 2 generations.