The Bully Pulpit: The Politics of Protestant Clergy / Edition 1

by James L. Guth, John C. Green, Corwin E. Smidt, Lyman A. Kellstedt

Overview

When Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994, the Christian Right claimed a major role in their defeat and House Speaker Newt Gingrich credited the "organized Christian vote" with the Republican victory. Ministers from many political persuasions have long been active in American politics, but in the 1980s and 1990s it has seemed impossible to find any political controversy that did not involve the clergy-often on both sides of the issue.

The Bully Pulpit is the first major study of clergy politics in more than twenty years. Drawing on two decades of survey research involving thousands of ministers nationwide, five social scientists explore the political lives of clergy in eight evangelical and mainline Protestant denominations, including the Assemblies of God, Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodist Church, and Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. They find that the competing theological perspectives of orthodoxy and modernism are increasingly tied to ideological and partisan divisions in American politics.

In addressing the nature and extent of clerical participation, The Bully Pulpit asks the following questions: How do different groups of ministers see their role in politics? What activities do they approve or disapprove? How active are Protestant clergy in politics? What factors account for the level and kinds of participation? Do the patterns of clerical activism discovered in the 1960s and 1970s persist today?

The authors discover that theological traditionalists emphasize moral reform and tend to specialize in making pronouncements in religious settings, while modernists stress social justice issues and engage in a wider range of political activities, inside and outside the church. They find that "New Breed" liberals have continued the mainline Protestant activism of the 1960s and '70s, but that Christian Right activists have become just as numerous, drawn from the ranks of previously inactive evangelical clergy. Their book offers a balanced assessment of political activity among both clergy at the end of the century and helps us understand the current relationship between church and state in America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780700608690
Publisher:	University Press of Kansas
Publication date:	12/17/1997
Series:	Studies in Government and Public Policy
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. The Politics of Protestant Clergy: An Overview

2. Eight Protestant Denominations: Theology, Organization, and Politics

3. Theology and the “Two-Party System” in American Protestantism

4. The Public Church: The Social Theologies of Protestant Clergy

5. The Issue Agendas of Protestant Clergy

6. Shepherds Divided: Issues and Ideology among Protestant Clergy

7. The Real “Two-Party System”: Partisanship and Voting Behavior among Protestant Clergy

8. Public Witness: Clergy Attitudes toward Political Activism

9. Petitioning Caesar: Political Involvement by Ministers

10. Conclusion: The Present and Future of Clerical Politics

Appendixes

References

Index

Editorial Reviews

Drawing from extensive surveys of clergy in eight denominations, this major, up-to-date statistical study brings together detailed information on the participation of Protestant clergy in politics, especially over the last 30 years. The information is fascinating because the viewpoints of the clergy, who often seem hard to categorize, can differ dramatically. Despite these differences, the authors (Religion and the Culture Wars, Rowman & Littlefield, 1996) have produced a work of particular interest to social scientists and politicians that unravels many of the mysteries of clergy participation in civic and social justice issues. In the 1960s, modern theologians trumpeted issues such as racial injustice and poverty. Now, increasingly, more orthodox clergy have become involved in such causes as abortion, pornography, and gay rights. The book helps in understanding church-state relationships. Recommended for larger public libraries and academic libraries.George Westerlund, Providence P.L., R.I.

Library Journal

Drawing on two decades of survey research involving thousands of ministers nationwide, five social scientists explore the political lives of clergy in eight evangelical and mainline Protestant denominations, including the Assemblies of God, Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodist Church, and Presbyterian Church. They find that the competing theological perspectives of orthodoxy and modernism are increasingly tied to ideological and partisan divisions in American politics, and help illuminate the current relationship between church and state in America. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

"The authors have produced a work of particular interest to social scientists and politicians that unravels many of the mysteries of clergy participation in civic and social justice issues."—Library Journal

"This book is indispensable to anyone who hopes to understand American Protestant politics. Its considerable excellences include a delightful mix of anecdotes and hard data; some subtle distinctions between theology, social theology, and eschatology (all separately measured); a solid grasp of the way that social change influences politics; and a deep understanding of the eight denominations that are being studied."—Political Science Quarterly

"A fine piece of scholarship and well written."—Journal of the American Academy of Religion

"This book should convince even skeptics that religious ideas have practical consequences. The authors reveal the elective affinity between conservative theology and political conservatism on the one hand and liberal theology and political liberalism on the other. But their story is far from simple. Combining vignettes and survey data, they also reveal the subtle interplay of beliefs and social factors. A valuable book."—Leo P. Ribuffo, author of The Old Christian Right

"A fine book that provides invaluable help as we struggle to understand the contemporary political role of the Protestant clergy, America’s most underappreciated political elite."—Ken Wald, author of Religion and Politics in the United States

"The premier empirical analysts on the role of religion in American politics provide solid factual evidence on the theological orientations, social philosophies, and party alignments of ministers in eight Protestant denominations. Their findings brilliantly illuminate the roots of political behavior in contrasting theological persuasions."—A. James Reichley, author of The Life of the Parties

From the Publisher