Similar Strategies, Different Outcomes: Institutional Histories of the Christian Right of Canada and of the United States

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the Christian right movements in the United States and Canada, both of which used the same strategies yet produced different results. For instance, the parachurch organizations built in the United States by conservative evangelicals were more numerous, more densely networked, and had more fluid paths of communication than Canadian evangelicals. U.S. Christian right activists routinely use media institutions to reach potential supporters; while in Canada, church networks are fewer and not very organized, resulting to a much more difficult communication among leaders and constituents willing to engage in political action. Scholars have argued that this gap in movement outcomes stems from the fact that people in the United States are more religious than those in Canada, which explains the broader base of support for the U.S. Christian right.