Religious Conservatives, the Republican Party and Evolving Party Coalitions in the United States

In: Party politics: an international journal for the study of political parties and political organizations, Volume 5, Issue 4, p. 485-496

Abstract

The growing importance of religious conservatives in the Republican Party is one of the most interesting aspects of evolving party coalitions in the US. However, their identification has proved to be difficult because of different operational definitions of religious conservatives. Here, an alternative operational definition is posited, identifying conservative Republicans for whom religion is an important part of their lives. This definition is then used to estimate the number of religious conservatives in the mass electorate & ascertain their political distinctiveness compared to other Republicans. While the definition used here is a broad one, it is demonstrated that, in terms of voting behavior & issue preferences, a religious conservative Republican is qualitatively distinct from a secular conservative Republican. 4 Tables, 34 References. Adapted from the source document.