U.S. Religious Interest Groups: Institutional Profiles

by W. Landis Jones, Paul J. Weber

Overview

This unique encyclopedia describes how a wide range of religious groups from an even wider spectrum of religious denominations has acted vigorously to influence public policy since the beginning of the republic. This advocacy by religious interests continues in the 1990s even more dramatically and professionally than in previous decades. This one-volume reference provides a historical sketch of religious activism through the years and then profiles 118 major organizations, describing their origins and development, organization and funding, program strategies, political activities, and publications. The encyclopedia is filled with practical directory-type information also. Appendices classify the groups by religious traditions, size, membership type of group, and policy interests. A full index makes the volume easily accessible to serve broad interdisciplinary audiences of students, teachers, experts, organization activists, and lay readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313266959
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/30/1994
Series:	Greenwood Reference Volumes on American Public Policy Formation
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)
Lexile:	1300L (what's this?)

About the Author

PAUL J. WEBER, University Distinguished Teaching Professor and Chair of the Political Science Department at the University of Louisville, is Director of the McConnell Center for Political Leadership. An authority on religion and government, his previous books published by Greenwood are Private Churches and Public Money (1988), Unfound Fears (1989), and Equal Separation: Understanding the First Amendment (1990).

W. LANDIS JONES is Professor of Political Science at the University of Louisville.

Table of Contents

Preface
Religious Interest Groups
History of U.S. Religious Interest Groups
U.S. Religious Interest Groups
Appendix A: Groups by Policy Area
Appendix B: Groups by Religious Affiliation
Appendix C: Groups by Political Identification
Appendix D: Single-Issue Groups
Appendix E: Groups by Type of Membership
Appendix F: Litigating Groups
Appendix G: Groups by Size of Budget
Bibliographic Essay
Index

Editorial Reviews

The authors have collected basic directory and organizational information on 120 national religious interest groups within the United States--quite an accomplishment, given the wide-ranging nature of these organizations. The volume begins with a well-written chapter on the history of U.S. religious interest groups, which is followed by the alphabetized directory entries. These entries include essential contact information plus the organization's origin and mission statement, its physical arrangement and funding, policy concerns and tactics, affiliation, and publications (if any). Within each entry, the authors quote the words of the organizations as frequently as possible--in order to let the group speak for itself. The volume concludes with seven appendixes that arrange the organizations into several different categories, followed by a small bibliographic essay and index. Offering information that is broader in scope and more detailed than more general works like the Encyclopedia of Associations (Gale, 1993), this book also serves as an excellent starting point for research. Essential for large political science and religious collections.-- David L. Laughlin, MLS, St. Louis

Library Journal

An encyclopedic reference that provides a historical sketch of religious activism through the years and then profiles 118 major organizations, describing their origins and development, organization and funding, program strategies, political activities, and publications. The reference includes practical directory-type information as well. Appendices classify the groups by religious traditions, size, membership type of group, and policy interests. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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