Mark J. Rozell

God at the grass roots : the Christian right in the 1994 elections

Chapter 1 The Christian Right and the 1994 Elections: An Overview Chapter 2 Florida: Running Globally and Winning Locally Chapter 3 Georgia: The Christian Right and Grass Roots Power Chapter 4 Texas: The Emergence of the Christian Right Chapter 5 Oklahoma: The Christian Right and Republican Realignment Chapter 6 Virginia: God, Guns, and Oliver North Chapter 7 South Carolina: The Christian Right Wins One Chapter 8 Michigan: Veering to the Right Chapter 9 Minnesota: Christians and Quistians in the GOP Chapter 10 Iowa: Everything Comes up Rosy Chapter 11 Oregon: Identity and Politics in the Northwest Chapter 12 The Past as Prologue: The Christian Right in the 1996 Elections

Uneasy Alliance: Conservative Catholics and the Christian Right

Christian Right organizations in the 1990s have tried to avoid the pitfalls of the religious particularism that undermined the earlier efforts of such groups as the Moral Majority to build long lasting political coalitions. For many Christian Right leaders, conservative Catholics appear to be a particularly appealing group to reach for membership recruitment and political coalition building. Yet such leading groups as the Christian Coalition have largely experienced disappointment with such efforts. This essay presents data that offer reasons for why conservative Catholics might be willing to form into political coalitions with activists of the Christian Right but remain reluctant to join Christian Right organizations. The findings are based on a large survey of Republican party state convention delegates in Virginia. The data show that Catholic delegates hold very conservative issue positions in line with Christian Right organizations and have positive feelings toward Christian Right candidates and organizations. Yet they hold somewhat distinctive positions among Republicans on issues of the death penalty, teaching of Creationism, and the social welfare net, arnong others, and therefore remain reluctant to join the Christian Coalition and other such groups.

Social movements and Party politics: The case of the Christian Right

This paper explores the uneasy relationship between social movements and major political parties by considering the case of the Christian Right and the Republican Party in the 1994 elections. We look at four states where the movement was active in party politics and where Republican electoral fortunes varied from failure to success. We found that the degree of intraparty division generated by the Christian Right seemed to hurt Republicans at the polls, but the level of movement activity in itself apparently helped the Republicans. Most factors associated with support for the Christian Right did not help account for electoral outcomes across the states. Instead, the accessibility of the political party nomination processes to the movement best accounted for the election results: greater party openness was associated with poor results and more limited access with greater success for the GOP.

Catholics and the Christian Right: A View from Four States

Christian Right Organizations in the 1990s have tried to avoid the pitfalls for the religious particularism that undermined the earlier efforts of such groups as Moral Majority to build long lasting political coalitions. For many Christian Right leaders, conservative Catholics appear to be a particularly appealing group to reach for membership recruitment and political coalition-building. Yet such leading groups as the Christian Coalition have largely experienced disappointment with such efforts. This essay presents data that offer reasons why conservative Catholics might be willing to form political coalitions with activists of the Christian Right but remain reluctant to join Christian Right organizations. The findings are based on a large survey of Republican party state convention delegates in four states. The data show that Catholic delegates hold very conservative issue positions in line with Christian Right organizations, and have positive feelings toward Christian Right leaders and organizations. Yet Catholic delegates hold somewhat distinctive positions among Republicans on certain issues, and therefore remain reluctant to join the Christian Coalition and other such groups.

Local v. National Press Assessments of Virginia's 1989 Gubernatorial Campaign

The 1989 Virginia gubernatorial campaign was covered extensively by both local and national press. Coverage focused on Douglas Wilders attempt to become the nations first elected black Governor and on the issue of abortion. Using content analysis, this article assesses press reports and finds a disturbing pattern of one-sided coverage.

The “Congressionalization” of state legislative races

Abstract This paper examines the phenomenon of the “Congressionalization” of state legislative races. That is, as state legislative campaigns become more expensive, use more mass media, polling, and professional political consulting, these races are looking more and more like Congressional campaigns. Although others have pointed toward a “Congressionalization” trend, there is little concrete support to prove such a trend. We provide a detailed case study of the characteristics of state legislative races in a single state in the mid-1990s. We find that although there is indeed support for the view that these races are looking more and more Congressional-like, state legislative races are still distinctive in a number of important ways.

The Limits of White House Image Control

Gerald R. Ford became president under the most unusual circumstances in United States history. Unelected, he ascended to the nations highest office, never having sought that coveted position. In fact, he never sought to do more than to faithfully represent his constituents in Michigans 5th Congressional District and perhaps to become the Speaker of the House. Before Richard M. Nixon chose him in October 1973 to be vice president, Ford had contemplated soon retiring from public life. Fate dealt Ford a different future and presidential scholars a unique administration to study. This article focuses on the early stage of Fords press relations the euphoric post-Nixon honeymoon through the unpopular Nixon pardon -as seen through the eyes of key Ford White House media advisers. The author interviewed Fords media advisers to develop insight into an important transitional period in the relationship between the presidency and the press. The interview data show how administration insiders, as well as the president, perceived and responded to the unique situation they found themselves in after the Nixon resignation. That context must be emphasized in any effort to understand Fords press relations. As a number of studies show, the Watergate era was a water-

Obama's Executive Branch Czars: The Constitutional Controversy and a Legislative Solution

The increasingly common practice of presidential appointment of so-called executive branch czars has become especially contentious in the Obama era. Much of that controversy unfortunately is highly partisan-oriented and misses the core constitutional issues at stake. In this article, we describe and analyze the Obama-era executive branch czars controversy from a constitutional analysis framework. In so doing, we offer a working definition of executive branch czars—a much-needed corrective to the current debates in which the term has been used very loosely. We examine and analyze the scope of authority exercised by the high-level executive branch officials during the Obama administration that we consider to be constitutionally troublesome. Although our focus is on the Obama czars that have vast and largely unchecked powers, we also acknowledge that some media-labeled czar positions are statutorily created and accountable and thus should not be in the same category. After addressing the Obama-era czars, we offer a set of reform proposals that provide a much-needed corrective.

The Law: Executive Privilege: Definition and Standards of Application

Executive privilege is the right of the president and high-level executive branch officials to with hold information from those with compulsory power?Congress and the courts (and, therefore, ulti mately the public). Because it is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution and also due to the occasional abuses of that power, executive privilege is controversial. Although few today question the constitu tionality of executive privilege, there is considerable debate about its proper scope and limits. This arti cle traces the historical development of the meaning and standards of executive privilege. The purpose is to show that disputes over executive privilege are best resolved through the normal ebb and flow of our separation of powers system and not through some statutory definition or precise court clarifica tion of that power. A core issue in the scandal that led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton was the presi dents elaborate use of executive privilege. Although nowhere mentioned in the Constitu tion, executive privilege has a long history in presidential politics. Presidents since George Washington have claimed the right to withhold information from the legislative, judicial, and, ultimately, the public. Despite this long history and the many precedents for its exer cise, executive privilege remains a controversial power.

Bush and the Christian Right: The Triumph of Pragmatism

The above statement is an exaggeration, but it largely fits the conventional wisdom about the Bush presidency and the Christian Right. To be sure, Bush may be the best president the Christian Right movement has ever had. Yet to say that the movement has “taken over the White House” does not dovetail with reality. The story is much more complicated, as Bush has been a friend to the movement but has frustrated social conservatives at the same time.