Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-189) and index.
Contents:
The religious divide in American politics -- Mobilization, capture, and misunderstood trends -- Representation and four forces that shape change among activists -- First force, the effect of being fruitful and multiplying -- Second force, the effect of voting early and often -- Third force, the effect of picking a side -- Fourth force, the effect of writing checks and knocking on doors -- "Capture" revisited, representation, and religious activists.
Summary:
"Do Evangelical activists control the Republican Party? Do secular activists control the Democratic Party? In Godless Democrats and Pious Republicans?, Ryan Claassen carefully assesses the way campaign activists represent religious and non-religious groups in American political parties dating back to the 1960s. By providing a new theoretical framework for investigating the connections between macro social and political trends, the results challenge a conventional wisdom in which recently mobilized religious and Secular extremists captured the parties and created a God gap. The new approach reveals that very basic social and demographic trends matter far more than previously recognized and that mobilization matters far less. The God gap in voting is real, but it was not created by Christian Right mobilization efforts and a Secular backlash. Where others see culture wars and captured parties, Claassen finds many religious divisions in American politics are artifacts of basic social changes. This very basic insight leads to many profoundly different conclusions about the motivations of religious and non-religious activists and voters"-- Provided by publisher. "This book provides unprecedented information about the rising tide of Evangelical political activists on the right and the rising tide of Secular political activists on the left. "God gap" scholarship argues that Evangelicals and Seculars captured opposing parties, and created a religious divide between the "Godless" and the "pious." This book introduces a new paradigm for understanding change among political activists - the representation-based model. This model offers a new way of looking at recent trends that reveals that basic demographic forces matter far more when it comes to understanding the rise of Evangelical Republican activists and Secular Democratic activists, and that mobilization matters far less"-- Provided by publisher.
Series:
Cambridge studies in social theory, religion, and politics
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.