Presidential Campaigns, White Evangelicals, and the New Republican Coalition

Two important factors have contributed to the development during the 1980s of a Republican Party coalition prominently including white evangelicals. First, Republican candidates have been willing to express support for the traditional morality issues and attitudes which are the cornerstone of the white evangelical agenda. They have been encouraged to do this by the potential for strong electoral support from evangelicals, as well as that group's relative concentration in the South, a region which has become increasingly competitive and increasingly important in national politics. Secondly, leading white evangelical ministers are able to serve as mediators between Republican politicians and their own followers. Their authority among their followers rests on a widespread feeling among white evangelicals that the United States is experiencing a social and moral crisis, and the ministers' personal charisma which has allowed them to emerge as leaders to combat the perceived crisis.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Nesmith, Bruce Forrester

Contributors dc:contributor

• Seligman, Lester G.

• Political Science, General

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8803152

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/69812