By Geoffrey Layman
How did the Christian correct come to predominate within the Republican social gathering? Why, however, do secular and religiously liberal ideals mostly be triumphant within the Democratic celebration? Our realizing of the rift among the Democratic and Republican events -- a rift in lots of methods fueled through spiritual ideals -- calls for an research of the total spectrum of non secular and nonreligious gamers within the American political technique and the way their effect has developed over an extended time period. utilizing a mammoth selection of info on celebration individuals, activists, and elites, Geoffrey Layman examines the position of faith within the Democratic and Republican events, and the ways that faith has stimulated the political technique from the early Sixties during the past due Nineteen Nineties. utilizing a large choice of assets, together with the yankee nationwide Election experiences -- the foremost educational survey of the yank voters -- Layman unearths an unlimited and subtly differentiated panorama of political lifestyles and a extra bright foundation upon which to investigate the ever-widening chasm among the parties.Layman investigates a large spectrum of spiritual kind, mentioning ameliorations among African American Protestants, white evangelical Protestants, Roman Catholics, Jews, nonreligious or seculars, and smaller non secular teams, in addition to political cleavages inside of those religion traditions. together with his broad-based and thorough research, he counters the usually slim concentration and incendiary rhetoric of a number of the "culture battle" debates.
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Additional resources for The great divide: religious and cultural conflict in American party politics
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In short, to understand the impact of religion on contemporary American politics, we need a theory of party politics that explains its relationship to religious and cultural divisions in society. Second, research needs to examine the relationship between religion and party politics over a series of elections. Most research on religion and politics relies on data collected at one point in time or over a rather small number of years. It provides a snapshot of the relationship between religion and political behavior.
To produce a significant change in the social composition of the parties’ coalitions, an issue must cut across the existing lines of partisan cleavage, dividing voters along social and ideological lines that are different from those of the current alignment (Schattschneider 1960; Sundquist 1983; MacDonald and Rabinowitz 1987; Carmines and Stimson 1989; Carmines 1991). The Religious–Cultural Cleavage and Its Related Issues The contemporary cultural conflict is a powerful and highly emotional struggle.
Cuts Across Existing Lines of Partisan Cleavage There are many conflicts that arouse strong feelings among a large number of people but do not create a substantial change in the party system. They do not foster partisan change because they reenforce the existing party coalitions; they divide the electorate along the same lines as the issues that produced the current partisan alignment. In recent years, for example, new issues such as reform of the welfare system and govern- 01 layman chap01 2/27/01 10:47 AM Page 31 Explaining Religious Change in the Party System / 31 ment provision of health care have captured the attention of the American public and have been the source of highly emotional political debates.
