The Religious Left in Contemporary American Politics

Abstract

The religious right's prominence and clout in American politics are by now well known, but is there any semblance of a religious left to counterbalance it? This article presents an investigation of whether the elite-level building blocks of a religious left are in place in the contemporary United States. Using social movement theory as a point of departure, I analyze the extent to which existing religious left organizations might make use of cultural, material, and opportunity-structure resources. I present a typology of the range of organizations in existence and consider whether these organizations have sufficient capability to marshal the resources it would take for the religious left to reassert itself on the American political stage.