The Overlooked Organizational Basis of the Christian Right’s Power

• In Event: 40420 - Section on Political Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 19: The Politics of the Right Wing 1

Abstract

The Christian right has been a powerful ally of the Republican Party for nearly half a century. Why and how has the Christian right remained so powerful, for so long, and despite so much social and political change? Recent scholarship has generally neglected the organizational basis of the Christian right’s power. However, journalistic exposés have documented how broadcasting companies have become key brokers between Republican Party elites and grassroots Evangelicals. Using original qualitative data collection and secondary sources, I present findings centrally focused on the partnership between a major Christian media company and leading advocacy organizations between the late 1990s and the present-day. Building from these findings, I argue that the Christian right is so powerful because it is organized as a multi-level business and political partnership between traditional advocacy organizations and Christian right broadcasting companies, or what I call CRBCs. I demonstrate that this partnership enables the movement to forge strong and durable connections between elites and regular citizens. Findings have implications for scholarship on social movements, rightwing radicalization and democratic risk, and media.

Author

• Matthew Brooke, Harvard University