Evangelical Politics: Generalizations and Implications

Abstract

Several generalizations find support in these articles: (1) Religion entered the 1984 presidential campaign even more than the 1980 campaign, which contained more religion than the 1976 campaign, which brought presidential religion to public attention for the first time since Kennedy's Catholicism in 1960. Richard Pierard's paper bears most directly on this generalization, of course, but if the generalization is correct, we have an interesting reason to ask why this religious escalation is occurring and whether it will continue. 2. It is not at all clear whether Ronald Reagan derives a net benefit from the support he receives from the Christian Right. The evidence, quite direct in the Johnson-Tamney and Simpson papers and indirect in the Hood-Morris paper, suggests an instance of the classic "cross-pressures" dilemma: the very same social forces predisposing people toward a Christian right outlook (and thus a positive view of the Reagan candidacy) also predispose people toward the Democratic Party (and thus a negative view of the Reagan candidacy). Thus, Johnson and Tamney report the otherwise anomalous finding that Reagan support in 1984 was greatest among those only "moderately" Christian rightist. 3. Similarly, being on the Christian right is not merely a disguised way of being a Republican supporter. Hood and Morris make a convincing case for the notion that certain fundamentalist views are so fundamental to their holders that, unless politicians are "correct" on those, their other views are largely irrelevant to voting choice.