Cultural Politics: Legislating Morality in the States

Authors

  • Elizabeth A. Stiles

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.2004.25.0.157-174

Abstract

We derive predictions from several social movement theories-grievance, resource mobilization, and political process-regarding social movement behavior with respect to bill introductions and bill progress in state legislatures. We test these predictions using an original dataset gathered in six states on legislation in issue areas important to the Christian Right. Results show some support for predictions generated by all three theories. In the introductions model, Christian Right strength in the Republican Party and Republican control of lawmaking in the state are positive predictors of the amount of socially conservative bill introductions. Liberal state ideologies are also, counter intuitively, associated with more conservative bill introductions. The dispositions model shows that liberal socio-moral bills are actually more likely to pass than conservative ones and that socio-moral bills (regardless of ideology) enjoy more legislative success in states with conservative political ideologies.

References

Berry, W., J. Evan, R. Fording, and R. Hanson. 1998. Measuring Citizen and Government Ideology in the American States, 1960-93. American Journal of Political Science 42:327-348. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2991759

Conger, K., and J. Green. 2002. Spreading Out and Digging In: Christian Conservatives and State Republican Parties. Campaigns and Elections. February, 58-65.

Conover, P., and V. Gray. 1983. Feminism and the New Right: Conflict over the American Family. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.

Erikson, R., G. Wright, and J. McIver. 1993. Statehouse Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Freeman, J. 1975. The Politics of Womenís Liberation. New York: Longman.

Gamson, W. 1990. The Strategy of Social Protest. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Goldstone, Jack. 2003. Bridging Institutionalized and Noninstitutuionalized Politics. In States, Parties and Social Movements. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge.

Green, J., J. Guth, and C. Wilcox. 1998. Less than Conquerors: The Christian Right in State Republican Parties. In Social Movements and American Political Institutions, eds. Anne Costain and Andrew S. McFarland. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Press.

Green, J., J. Guth, L. Kellstedt, and C. Smidt. 1996. Religion and the Culture Wars: Dispatches from the Front. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Press.

Green, J., M. Rozell, and C. Wilcox. 2003. The Christian Rightís Long Political March. In The Christian Right in American Politics: Marching to the Millennium. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Green, J., M. Rozell, and C. Wilcox. 2001. Social Movements and Party Politics: The Case of the Christian Right. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40:413-426. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/0021-8294.00066

Guigni, M. 1998. Social Movements and Change: Incorporation, Transformation, and Democratization. In From Contention to Democracy, eds. M. Guigni, D. McAdam, and C. Tilly. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Guigni, M. 1999. Introduction: How Social Movements Matter. In How Social Movements Matter, eds. M. Guigni, D. McAdam, and C. Tilly. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Hunter, J. 1991. Culture Wars. New York: Doubleday.

Jelen, T. 1991. The Political Mobilization of Religious Belief. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Lienesch, M. 1982. Right Wing Religion: Christian Conservatism as a Political Movement. Political Science Quarterly 97:403-425. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2149992

Lipset, S., and C. Raab. 1978. The Politics of Unreason. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Long, J. 1997. Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

McAdam, D. 1999. Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930-1970. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226555553.001.0001

Meier, K. 1994. The Politics of Sin: Drugs, Alcohol and Public Policy. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

Moen, M. 1992. The Transformation of the Christian Right. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.

Oldfield, D. 1996. The Right and the Righteous. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Rozell, M., and C. Wilcox. 1995. God at the Grassroots: The Christian Right in the 1994 Elections. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Rozell, M., and C. Wilcox. 1996. Second Coming. Washington, DC: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Rozell, M., and C. Wilcox. 1997. God at the Grassroots: The Christian Right in the 1996 Elections. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Rozell, M., C. Wilcox, and J. Green. 1998. Religious Constituencies and Support for the Christian Right in the 1990s. Social Science Quarterly 79:815-827.

Tarrow, S. 1994. Power in Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tilly, C. 1978. From Mobilization to Revolution. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Wilcox, C. 1992. Godís Warriors. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Wilcox, C., M. DeBell, and L. Sigelman. 1999. The Second Coming of the New Christian Right: Patterns of Popular Support in 1984 and 1996. Social Science Quarterly 80:181-192.

Downloads

Published

2004-07-01

Issue

Vol. 25: Summer 2004

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with American Review of Politics agree to the following terms:

  1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.

  2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.

  3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:

    1. Attribution: other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;

    2. Non-Commercial: the materials may not be used for commercial purposes;

    3. Share Alike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.

  1. The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  2. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.

  3. Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.

  1. The Author represents and warrants that:

    1. the Work is the Author’s original work;

    2. the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;

    3. the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;

    4. the Work has not previously been published;

    5. the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and

    6. the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.

  2. The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.