Laura R Olson
Biographic Data
| ID | 3595126 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Laura R Olson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Laura R |
| FAMILY NAME | Olson |
| SIGNATURE | OLSON L R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Clemson University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3182-7978 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 45 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 453 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 45 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Religion and Politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia
The nexus between religion and politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) and Croatia is inherently complex and characterized by multiple interplays among social factors, most notably religious-ethnic links. Nevertheless, the scholarly literature tends to understate the complexity of this relationship by reducing it to the religious dimension of the wars fought in former Yugoslavia in 1990s. This paper offers a more nuanced approach to the topic by …
E Pluribus … Pluribus ? Politics, Polarization, and Prospects for Covenantal Pluralism in the United States Today
How Religious Affiliation and Race/Ethnicity Shape Presidential Policy Approval
Does religious affiliation affect evaluations of the president’s policy performance? We examine support for President Barack Obama’s handling of seven policy areas using data from the Pew Research Center. We show that the intersection of race/ethnicity and religion drives support for Obama’s policy performance and that religion’s impact transcends that of partisanship. Compared to Black Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, non-Hispanic Catholics…
Religious identification in a changing Turkey
Turkish politics is changing rapidly, as is the place of religion in its public square. In this context, it is useful to ask who prioritizes religious identity and who does not. Our social-psychological approach emphasizes the importance of understanding why religion is more central to certain individuals' sense of self than others. We analyze data from an original, nationally representative survey of over 2,000 adults in Turkey that includes a m…
Internet Usage, YouTube, and Conspiracy-Mindedness in the United States
The spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation poses substantial threats to democracy around the world. In the United States, entrenched political polarization is both a consequence and a ramification of the spread of biased and false information. Much of this misinformation is spread online, especially on social media. Of all the social media networks in existence, the video-sharing platform YouTube is the most significant incubator of rig…
How Linguistic Analysis Helps Us Understand the Covid-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have ushered in a new era of uncertainty around the globe. Misinformation occupies every corner of the internet, and increasingly humans have come to distrust one other and expert sources of information. It is safe to say that the pandemic was a major collective trauma, and that we are only now beginning to understand its deep ramifications for individuals and societies alike. This special issue of Lingue Culture Me…
Divine influence: Religious foundations of U.S. foreign policy attitudes
Objective Religion has been shown to affect the U.S. public opinion about foreign policy. Recent studies emphasize attitudes about issues pertaining to the Middle East. They also tend to focus on the perspectives of evangelical Protestants, so we know comparatively little about how being mainline Protestant, Black Protestant, Catholic, or religiously unaffiliated might affect one's foreign policy preferences. Methods Using data drawn from the 200…
Moral Victories in the Battle for Congress: Cultural Conservatism and the House GOP
Moral Victories in the Battle for Congress: Cultural Conservatism and the House GOP." Congress & the Presidency, 47(3), pp. 391–392
Idiosyncratic Prophets: Personal Style in the Prayers of Congressional Chaplains, 1990-2010
Congressional staffers assembled on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in December 2014 to protest the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner at the hands of police. Rather than chanting or raising signs, they bowed their heads in prayer. “We're gathered here today so that we can be the voice for the voiceless,” U.S. Senate chaplain Barry Black began. “Today as people throughout the nation protest for justice in our land, forgive us when we have fail…
Identification with Religion: Cross-National Evidence from a Social Psychological Perspective
Why is religion a more central social identity for some people than for others? Previous studies focus on explaining individual differences in religious affiliation and religiosity, often using the term 'identification' in reference to these concepts. Yet, few scholars operationalize-let alone attempt to explain-identification with religion in social psychological terms, i.e., as a construct that captures the subjective psychological centrality o…
Religious Right, Religious Left, Both, or Neither? Understanding Religio-Political Identification
In this article we analyze the effects of religious, political, socioeconomic, and demographic variables on religious Americans' propensity to identify with religio-political movements. Using data from the 2013 Economic Values Survey collected by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), we sort nonsecular Americans into four categories: religious right, religious left,bothreligious rightandreligious left, orneitherreligious rightnorthe reli…
Religion and Attitudes toward Redistributive Policies among Americans
Scholars have devoted considerable attention to understanding how individuals’ political and economic attitudes shape their views toward government policies designed to alleviate growing income inequality in the United States. However, much less attention has been paid to the question of how religion shapes Americans’ attitudes toward income inequality and redistributive policies. Using data drawn from the 2013 Economic Values Survey conducted by…
Movement Commitment among Progressive and Conservative Religio-Political Activists in the United States
In this article, I compare progressive and conservative religio-political activists' commitment to their movements (the religious left and right, respectively). I rely on data from the Public Religion Research Institute's 2009 surveys of individuals they identified as religious left activists and religious right activists. Do these activists actually say they identify with the movement with which pollsters assume them to affiliate? How potentiall…
The New Evangelicals: Expanding the Vision of the Common Good
The last decade has witnessed the emergence of a new generation of American evangelicals who, by most accounts, are more tolerant and politically moderate than their predecessors. Exemplified by younger evangelical leaders such as Reverend Rick Warren, they want little to do with their grandfathers' Religious Right. Instead of concerning themselves solely with issues of sexual morality such as abortion and homosexuality, they embrace a broader po…
Public Deliberation about Gay Rights in Religious Contexts: Commitment to Deliberative Norms and Practice in Elca Congregations
Many political theorists extol the virtues of deliberation in efforts to reconcile differences in opinion and prevent group fracture. On August 21, 2009, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted narrowly to reverse standing policy by allowing gay and lesbian people in committed relationships to serve openly as clergy. In the aftermath of this decision, numerous congregations began thinking about leaving the denomination. We surveye…
Stained-glass politics and descriptive representation: Does associational leadership by women engender political engagement among women
The vast literature on the political effects of descriptive representation focuses solely on representatives in government. However, since non-governmental associations are essential to citizens' political engagement, we extend the reach of the descriptive representation literature to include associational leadership. We offer an initial glimpse at what this form of investigation may entail, asking what effect descriptive representation of women …
Minutes of the October 6, 2012 Apsa Council Meeting
An emergency meeting of the American Political Science Association Council was held in Washington, DC on October 6, 2012. The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. by President Mansbridge
Pluralism, Please: A Response
Faith Matters: Religious Affiliation and Public Opinion About Barack Obama's Foreign Policy in the “Greater” Middle East
Objectives Despite the obvious relevance of religious themes and symbols in U.S. foreign policy since September 11, 2001, scholars know little about whether or how religious affiliation and behavior affect foreign policy attitudes. In this study, we endeavor to fill this gap in the literature. Methods We analyze the relationship between religious affiliation and public opinion about several dimensions of U.S. foreign policy in the Greater Middle …
Religion and American Public Life: A Discussion of Robert Putnam and David Campbell'sSaving Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us
In his 2000 best sellerBowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Civic Community,Robert Putnam analyzed the links between social capital and civic engagement. Lamenting the decline of “civic America,” he called for a Tocquevillean renewal of voluntary association in the United States. InAmerican Grace,Putnam and coauthor David Campbell—who also helped with the preparation ofBowling Alone—return to the analysis of American civil society,…
Uncertainty in Clergy's Perspectives on Homosexuality: A Research Note
This research note analyzes expressions of uncertainty in clergy's perspectives on homosexuality. We conducted interviews with forty Christian clergy who lead congregations in the vicinity of one large southeastern US city. Seven in ten clergy interviewed expressed uncertainty in their personal opinions about homosexuality, uncertainty about how they should act pursuant to the issue, or both. We describe clergy's experiences with these uncertaint…
The Religious Left in Contemporary American Politics
The religious right's prominence and clout in American politics are by now well known, but is there any semblance of a religious left to counterbalance it? This article presents an investigation of whether the elite-level building blocks of a religious left are in place in the contemporary United States. Using social movement theory as a point of departure, I analyze the extent to which existing religious left organizations might make use of cult…
The Essentiality of 'Culture' in the Study of Religion and Politics
This article reviews various theoretical approaches political scientists employ in the analysis of religion and politics and posits culture as a conceptual bridge between competing approaches. After coming to the study of religion slowly in comparison with other social science disciplines, political science finally has a theoretically diverse and thriving religion and politics subfield. However, political scientists ’ contributions to the social …
The Disappearing God Gap? Religion in the 2008 Presidential Election
This book is the result of a research collaboration of six leading scholars of American religion and politics, each of whom focuses on a different aspect of the complicated relationship between these two social spheres. As such, it offers a richer, more nuanced treatment of religion's relevance to politics than most other works of its kind. The book's focus on religion in the 2008 presidential campaign makes it an especially timely publication. A…
Diffusion of Environmental Concerns in Congregations across U.S. States
Most American congregations belong to denominations. These national networks often promote relevant political issues that constituent congregations may choose to address. Therefore, religious organizations might play a significant role in promoting the process of policy diffusion in the U.S. states. At the same time, congregations are tradition-maintaining institutions that focus first on their own immediate concerns, promoting the maintenance of…
Religion and Public Opinion about Same‐Sex Marriage
Objective. The goal of this article is to analyze the relationship between religion, measured in terms of religious affiliation and religiosity, and public opinion about same‐sex marriage, civil unions, and a federal constitutional amendment that would prohibit gay marriage. Methods. We use logistic regression with calculated standardized coefficients to analyze data from a nationally representative survey of 1,610 respondents conducted in March–…
Belonging, Behaving, and Believing: Assessing the Role of Religion on Presidential Approval
We operationalize three dimensions of religion—religious affiliation, religious commitment, and religious belief—to offer a detailed analysis of how religion affects presidential approval ratings. Using data from the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 American National Election Studies, we demonstrate that operationalizing religion as a rudimentary Protestant—Catholic affiliation dichotomy masks its influence on presidential approval. We find that religi…
Talking about Homosexuality: The Views of Mainline Protestant Clergy
Homosexuality is one of the most divisive issues within mainline Protestantism today. In this article we portray the many sides of mainline Protestantism's debates about homosexuality through the lens of statements clergy made about the issue in early 2000. In interviews with 62 mainline Protestant clergy across the United States, 40 volunteered their views on homosexuality without being prompted. We describe the frames through which clergy under…
How Denominational Resources Influence Debate about Homosexuality in Mainline Protestant Congregations
A growing body of research examines national conflicts over homosexuality in mainline Protestant denominations, but few studies have explored the concrete ways individual congregations are responding. We focus on thirty mainline Protestant congregations (in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church [U.S.A.], and the United Methodist Church) in the northeastern United States that have formally considered the issue of homo…
Substantive Religious Representation in the U.S. Senate: Voting Alignment with the Family Research Council
Studies of representation are widespread in the congressional literature, with recent work focusing on both descriptive and substantive representation of various minority groups. The authors focus on religious representation in Congress, examining the extent to which senators’ own religious affiliation and the relative size of their religious constituencies affect substantive representation of Religious Right interests. The authors find that Chri…
Religion and Attitudes toward Redistributive Policies among Americans
Scholars have devoted considerable attention to understanding how individuals’ political and economic attitudes shape their views toward government policies designed to alleviate growing income inequality in the United States. However, much less attention has been paid to the question of how religion shapes Americans’ attitudes toward income inequality and redistributive policies. Using data drawn from the 2013 Economic Values Survey conducted by…
Uncertainty in Clergy's Perspectives on Homosexuality: A Research Note
This research note analyzes expressions of uncertainty in clergy's perspectives on homosexuality. We conducted interviews with forty Christian clergy who lead congregations in the vicinity of one large southeastern US city. Seven in ten clergy interviewed expressed uncertainty in their personal opinions about homosexuality, uncertainty about how they should act pursuant to the issue, or both. We describe clergy's experiences with these uncertaint…
The Religion Gap
As the 2004 presidential election approached, journalists discovered an apparently new political phenomenon: the “religion gap,” or the tendency of the most religious Americans to espouse conservative political beliefs and prefer Republican candidates. As a typical news story put it, “Want to know how Americans will vote next Election Day? Watch what they do the weekend before. If they attend religious services regularly, they probably will vote …
Diffusion of Environmental Concerns in Congregations across U.S. States
Most American congregations belong to denominations. These national networks often promote relevant political issues that constituent congregations may choose to address. Therefore, religious organizations might play a significant role in promoting the process of policy diffusion in the U.S. states. At the same time, congregations are tradition-maintaining institutions that focus first on their own immediate concerns, promoting the maintenance of…
Whether to Adopt Statements on Homosexuality in Two Denominations: A Research Note
Some of the most contentious issues in American religion today concern homosexuality. In 1998, we asked 2,300 clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church whether their denomination should adopt official statements on homosexuality. A year later, we asked the same question of 1,600 church members in 60 of those clergy's congregations. In this research note, we analyze the attitudes of clergy and church memb…
The Essentiality of 'Culture' in the Study of Religion and Politics
This article reviews various theoretical approaches political scientists employ in the analysis of religion and politics and posits culture as a conceptual bridge between competing approaches. After coming to the study of religion slowly in comparison with other social science disciplines, political science finally has a theoretically diverse and thriving religion and politics subfield. However, political scientists ’ contributions to the social …
Clergy and the Politics of Gender
Using data from a new survey of mainline Protestant clergy, we explore the extent to which a political gender gap exists between male and female mainline Protestant ministers. Analysis reveals major partisan, ideological, attitudinal, and participatory disparities among clergymen and clergywomen. Women are far more liberal than their male counterparts, and even though they face the constraint of being a professional minority, clergywomen tend to …
The Political Attitudes and Activities of Mainline Protestant Clergy in the Election of 2000: A Study of Six Denominations
This study examines clergy across six mainline Protestant denominations in terms of their social characteristics, their theological positions, and their political attitudes and behavior. The analysis is based on data collected through random surveys of clergy in each denomination conducted in 2001 using the same instrument. The predominant focus of the article is on the nature and level of political activities exhibited by mainline Protestant cle…
Changing Issue Agendas of Women Clergy
Using data from separate studies conducted in 1988-89 and 1998, we explore changes in the issue agendas of women clergy. Rosenstone and Hansen (1993) argue persuasively that mobilization often occurs due to a commitment to a particular political issue. Our data allow us to test three separate hypotheses about the evolution of women clergy's issue agendas over the course of a decade that saw an unprecedented number of women enter the ministry. Shi…
The Religious Left in Contemporary American Politics
The religious right's prominence and clout in American politics are by now well known, but is there any semblance of a religious left to counterbalance it? This article presents an investigation of whether the elite-level building blocks of a religious left are in place in the contemporary United States. Using social movement theory as a point of departure, I analyze the extent to which existing religious left organizations might make use of cult…
The Politics of Gay Rights and the Gender Gap: A Perspective on the Clergy
In this article, we explore the nexus of gender, religious leadership, and attitudes toward homosexuality and gay rights. Homosexuality has become a frontline issue in American politics, as illustrated most recently by gay marriage battles in the courts and state legislatures as well as state referenda campaigns designed to define marriage legally as the union of a man and a woman. Using survey data from a national random sample of 3,208 clergy w…
Sources of Clergy Support for Denominational Lobbying in Washington
Religious Right, Religious Left, Both, or Neither? Understanding Religio-Political Identification
In this article we analyze the effects of religious, political, socioeconomic, and demographic variables on religious Americans' propensity to identify with religio-political movements. Using data from the 2013 Economic Values Survey collected by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), we sort nonsecular Americans into four categories: religious right, religious left,bothreligious rightandreligious left, orneitherreligious rightnorthe reli…
Identification with Religion: Cross-National Evidence from a Social Psychological Perspective
Why is religion a more central social identity for some people than for others? Previous studies focus on explaining individual differences in religious affiliation and religiosity, often using the term 'identification' in reference to these concepts. Yet, few scholars operationalize-let alone attempt to explain-identification with religion in social psychological terms, i.e., as a construct that captures the subjective psychological centrality o…
Movement Commitment among Progressive and Conservative Religio-Political Activists in the United States
In this article, I compare progressive and conservative religio-political activists' commitment to their movements (the religious left and right, respectively). I rely on data from the Public Religion Research Institute's 2009 surveys of individuals they identified as religious left activists and religious right activists. Do these activists actually say they identify with the movement with which pollsters assume them to affiliate? How potentiall…
Stained-glass politics and descriptive representation: Does associational leadership by women engender political engagement among women
The vast literature on the political effects of descriptive representation focuses solely on representatives in government. However, since non-governmental associations are essential to citizens' political engagement, we extend the reach of the descriptive representation literature to include associational leadership. We offer an initial glimpse at what this form of investigation may entail, asking what effect descriptive representation of women …
Faith Matters: Religious Affiliation and Public Opinion About Barack Obama's Foreign Policy in the “Greater” Middle East
Objectives Despite the obvious relevance of religious themes and symbols in U.S. foreign policy since September 11, 2001, scholars know little about whether or how religious affiliation and behavior affect foreign policy attitudes. In this study, we endeavor to fill this gap in the literature. Methods We analyze the relationship between religious affiliation and public opinion about several dimensions of U.S. foreign policy in the Greater Middle …
Religion and American Public Life: A Discussion of Robert Putnam and David Campbell'sSaving Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us
In his 2000 best sellerBowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Civic Community,Robert Putnam analyzed the links between social capital and civic engagement. Lamenting the decline of “civic America,” he called for a Tocquevillean renewal of voluntary association in the United States. InAmerican Grace,Putnam and coauthor David Campbell—who also helped with the preparation ofBowling Alone—return to the analysis of American civil society,…
Idiosyncratic Prophets: Personal Style in the Prayers of Congressional Chaplains, 1990-2010
Congressional staffers assembled on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in December 2014 to protest the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner at the hands of police. Rather than chanting or raising signs, they bowed their heads in prayer. “We're gathered here today so that we can be the voice for the voiceless,” U.S. Senate chaplain Barry Black began. “Today as people throughout the nation protest for justice in our land, forgive us when we have fail…
Introduction—“Gapology” and the Presidential Vote
All manner of political observers are fascinated by “gaps” in voting behavior. Whether it is the now-famous gender gap, the newly discovered religion gap, or the once-prominent generation gap, sharp differences in partisanship and voting behavior often emerge around commonplace demographic characteristics such as gender, worship attendance, and age. These gaps are not just intrinsically interesting; they also offer a potent way to understand elec…
Abortion Rights as Religious Freedom
Positive Neutrality: Letting Religious Freedom Ring
God at the Grass Roots: The Christian Right in the 1994 Elections
Changing Issue Agendas of Women Clergy
Using data from separate studies conducted in 1988-89 and 1998, we explore changes in the issue agendas of women clergy. Rosenstone and Hansen (1993) argue persuasively that mobilization often occurs due to a commitment to a particular political issue. Our data allow us to test three separate hypotheses about the evolution of women clergy's issue agendas over the course of a decade that saw an unprecedented number of women enter the ministry. Shi…
Filled with Spirit and Power
Talking about Homosexuality: The Views of Mainline Protestant Clergy
Homosexuality is one of the most divisive issues within mainline Protestantism today. In this article we portray the many sides of mainline Protestantism's debates about homosexuality through the lens of statements clergy made about the issue in early 2000. In interviews with 62 mainline Protestant clergy across the United States, 40 volunteered their views on homosexuality without being prompted. We describe the frames through which clergy under…
The Lotto and the Lord: Religious Influences on the Adoption of a Lottery in South Carolina
On November 7, 2000, despite the ardent pleas of clergy from across the spectrum of religious traditions, South Carolina voters repealed a constitutional amendment to pave the way for a state lottery. In a state known for intense evangelical religiosity, this outcome raises several important questions about the political influence of religion and religious leaders. In this article we offer a history of the religious aspects of the lottery debate …
Clergy and the Politics of Gender
Using data from a new survey of mainline Protestant clergy, we explore the extent to which a political gender gap exists between male and female mainline Protestant ministers. Analysis reveals major partisan, ideological, attitudinal, and participatory disparities among clergymen and clergywomen. Women are far more liberal than their male counterparts, and even though they face the constraint of being a professional minority, clergywomen tend to …
The Political Attitudes and Activities of Mainline Protestant Clergy in the Election of 2000: A Study of Six Denominations
This study examines clergy across six mainline Protestant denominations in terms of their social characteristics, their theological positions, and their political attitudes and behavior. The analysis is based on data collected through random surveys of clergy in each denomination conducted in 2001 using the same instrument. The predominant focus of the article is on the nature and level of political activities exhibited by mainline Protestant cle…
Christian Clergy in American Politics
Journal Article Christian Clergy in American Politics by Sue E. S. Crawford and Laura R. Olson (eds.). Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001, 304 pp.; $24.95 (paper) Get access Deborah J. Kapp Deborah J. Kapp McCormick Theological Seminary Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Sociology of Religion, Volume 65, Issue 1, Spring 2004, Pages 90–92, https://doi.org/10.2307/3712512 Published: 01 Marc…
Sources of Clergy Support for Denominational Lobbying in Washington
Religion and Public Opinion about Same‐Sex Marriage
Objective. The goal of this article is to analyze the relationship between religion, measured in terms of religious affiliation and religiosity, and public opinion about same‐sex marriage, civil unions, and a federal constitutional amendment that would prohibit gay marriage. Methods. We use logistic regression with calculated standardized coefficients to analyze data from a nationally representative survey of 1,610 respondents conducted in March–…
Introduction—“Gapology” and the Presidential Vote
All manner of political observers are fascinated by “gaps” in voting behavior. Whether it is the now-famous gender gap, the newly discovered religion gap, or the once-prominent generation gap, sharp differences in partisanship and voting behavior often emerge around commonplace demographic characteristics such as gender, worship attendance, and age. These gaps are not just intrinsically interesting; they also offer a potent way to understand elec…
The Religion Gap
As the 2004 presidential election approached, journalists discovered an apparently new political phenomenon: the “religion gap,” or the tendency of the most religious Americans to espouse conservative political beliefs and prefer Republican candidates. As a typical news story put it, “Want to know how Americans will vote next Election Day? Watch what they do the weekend before. If they attend religious services regularly, they probably will vote …
Whether to Adopt Statements on Homosexuality in Two Denominations: A Research Note
Some of the most contentious issues in American religion today concern homosexuality. In 1998, we asked 2,300 clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church whether their denomination should adopt official statements on homosexuality. A year later, we asked the same question of 1,600 church members in 60 of those clergy's congregations. In this research note, we analyze the attitudes of clergy and church memb…
Substantive Religious Representation in the U.S. Senate: Voting Alignment with the Family Research Council
Studies of representation are widespread in the congressional literature, with recent work focusing on both descriptive and substantive representation of various minority groups. The authors focus on religious representation in Congress, examining the extent to which senators’ own religious affiliation and the relative size of their religious constituencies affect substantive representation of Religious Right interests. The authors find that Chri…
Belonging, Behaving, and Believing: Assessing the Role of Religion on Presidential Approval
We operationalize three dimensions of religion—religious affiliation, religious commitment, and religious belief—to offer a detailed analysis of how religion affects presidential approval ratings. Using data from the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 American National Election Studies, we demonstrate that operationalizing religion as a rudimentary Protestant—Catholic affiliation dichotomy masks its influence on presidential approval. We find that religi…
The Politics of Gay Rights and the Gender Gap: A Perspective on the Clergy
In this article, we explore the nexus of gender, religious leadership, and attitudes toward homosexuality and gay rights. Homosexuality has become a frontline issue in American politics, as illustrated most recently by gay marriage battles in the courts and state legislatures as well as state referenda campaigns designed to define marriage legally as the union of a man and a woman. Using survey data from a national random sample of 3,208 clergy w…
How Denominational Resources Influence Debate about Homosexuality in Mainline Protestant Congregations
A growing body of research examines national conflicts over homosexuality in mainline Protestant denominations, but few studies have explored the concrete ways individual congregations are responding. We focus on thirty mainline Protestant congregations (in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church [U.S.A.], and the United Methodist Church) in the northeastern United States that have formally considered the issue of homo…
Diffusion of Environmental Concerns in Congregations across U.S. States
Most American congregations belong to denominations. These national networks often promote relevant political issues that constituent congregations may choose to address. Therefore, religious organizations might play a significant role in promoting the process of policy diffusion in the U.S. states. At the same time, congregations are tradition-maintaining institutions that focus first on their own immediate concerns, promoting the maintenance of…
Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite
It is not often in academia that we can honestly describe a book as an engaging read, but D. Michael Lindsay's Faith in the Halls of Power is a deeply engaging—and genuinely interesting—book. Its greatest strength lies in its tremendous practical relevance to understanding life in the contemporary United States. The most significant story of religion in late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century America undoubtedly has been evangelical Protes…
The Religious Left in Contemporary American Politics
The religious right's prominence and clout in American politics are by now well known, but is there any semblance of a religious left to counterbalance it? This article presents an investigation of whether the elite-level building blocks of a religious left are in place in the contemporary United States. Using social movement theory as a point of departure, I analyze the extent to which existing religious left organizations might make use of cult…
The Essentiality of 'Culture' in the Study of Religion and Politics
This article reviews various theoretical approaches political scientists employ in the analysis of religion and politics and posits culture as a conceptual bridge between competing approaches. After coming to the study of religion slowly in comparison with other social science disciplines, political science finally has a theoretically diverse and thriving religion and politics subfield. However, political scientists ’ contributions to the social …
The Disappearing God Gap? Religion in the 2008 Presidential Election
This book is the result of a research collaboration of six leading scholars of American religion and politics, each of whom focuses on a different aspect of the complicated relationship between these two social spheres. As such, it offers a richer, more nuanced treatment of religion's relevance to politics than most other works of its kind. The book's focus on religion in the 2008 presidential campaign makes it an especially timely publication. A…
Faith Matters: Religious Affiliation and Public Opinion About Barack Obama's Foreign Policy in the “Greater” Middle East
Objectives Despite the obvious relevance of religious themes and symbols in U.S. foreign policy since September 11, 2001, scholars know little about whether or how religious affiliation and behavior affect foreign policy attitudes. In this study, we endeavor to fill this gap in the literature. Methods We analyze the relationship between religious affiliation and public opinion about several dimensions of U.S. foreign policy in the Greater Middle …
Sociology (36 works) · Political science (35 works) · Law (33 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (33 works) · Politics (31 works) · American Constitutional Law and Politics (20 works) · Psychology (14 works) · Gender Studies (13 works) · Law (12 works) · Social Psychology (12 works)