Ted G. Jelen - Böcker

This two-volume encyclopedia brings together leading scholars to provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource on politics and religion ever produced. Editors in Chief Paul A. Djupe, Mark J. Rozell, and Ted G. Jelen--joined by an editorial board of associate editors (Gizem Arikan, Pazit Ben-Nun Bloom, Taylor Boas, Steven Kettell, Amy Erica Smith, and Günes Murat Tezcür)--have assembled over 100 peer-reviewed entries. In this extensive resource, readers will find authoritative overviews of the key topics, theories, and findings in religion and politics.Social scientists have closely observed religion at multiple levels of analysis, across a long time span, and in diverse outlets. As a result, it can be difficult for new researchers and interested observers to understand the state of the field. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion addresses that need, and is therefore essential reading for all who seek to understand some of the most important issues and questions facing the world, including the role of regulation of religion by states, how religion is linked to civil war, whether religion is compatible with democracy, how religion structures political behavior and public opinion, how religious parties behave, and much more.

The 1988 Election year, showcasing two ordained ministers seeking presidential nomination, made it apparent that religion is an important force on the U.S. political landscape. The result of such visible roles by religious elites raises many questions including the boundaries between the sacred and the secular, the size and importance of various politico/religious constituencies, and the effectiveness of religiously based elite-mass communications. In response, political scientists are devoting an increasing amount of time to studying the interaction of religion and politics. Taking the first step toward answering these questions, Religion and American Political Behavior is a collection of 15 articles written by prominent political scientists. Reflecting the current state of research the articles are diverse and eclectic. They are all written from a behavioral perspective and are based on a careful collection of empirical data. This collection contains a variety of substantive findings that will be of particular value to students and scholars in the social sciences, religion, and political science.The book is divided into three parts. The first part deals directly with the methodological difficulties of measuring religious phenomena. This section also serves as an introduction to students or scholars with little background in this field. The second part constituting the body of the work, confronts the question of how religion affects the political attitudes and beliefs of ordinary citizens. The final part is unique to this collection. Entitled Elite Perspectives, it consists of seven articles with a common theme: the impact of religion on the political behavior of elite members of society, including journalists, lobbyists, public officials, political contributors, and clergy.

Ted G. Jelen's study asks two basic questions: Why do some people apply their religious beliefs to their political behavior, and what are the consequences of politicized Christianity for the practice of democracy in the United States? Supportive data for his findings, collected from the members and clergy of fifteen churches in a rural Midwestern county, suggest that the decline of the Christian Right is due to religious particularism. Mutual distrust and suspicion among Fundamentalists, Evangelicals, Charismatics, and Pentecostals, as well as their widespread antipathy to Roman Catholics, prevents the formation of potentially powerful political coalitions.This book explores religion's tendency to impact conservative politics and what the nature of a fractured religious right implies. Jelen shows that religiously directed politics are often motivated by a prejudice against religious outsiders. Since the Christian Right supporters have not successfully internalized the humble, nonjudgmental tenets of Christianity, both the effectiveness of the politics and the essence of the Christianity suffers. Jelen's discussion encourages dialogue among researchers, scholars, and activists.

This study examines the role of religion in American politics. It begins with the assumption that there exist multiple democratic theories, and that religion has a different role to play in each. It compares consensus theories of American political culture, and dualistic theories of political mobilization, and accounts, which emphasize the diversity of the American citizenry. The question of how religious leaders view their political roles is of the work's focus. The major part of the study consists of interviews with nearly thirty Protestant ministers and Roman Catholic clergy concerning their conceptions of the relationship between the sacred and the political. These conceptions are then related to the various theories of democratic political culture, with the conclusion that each of three traditions (Roman Catholicism, mainline Protestantism, and Evangelical Protestantism) embodies to some extent one of the models of democratic politics.This work will be of interest to scholars and students of American politics, government, and religion.

This edited collection examines various aspects of the explosive abortion issue in the United States and Canada. In both countries, decisions of the national supreme court have made access to legal abortion easier than had previously been the case. This volume looks at the aftermath of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. and Morgantaler v. Regina in Canada. Individual chapters deal with the rhetoric of public discourse, public opinion at the mass level, political reasoning on the part of religious and pro-life activists, and the role of religion in political socialization on the abortion issue. Methodologically, the volume includes survey research, content analysis, participant observation, and political theory. The list of contributors includes some of the leading political scientists and sociologists working in the field.

Perspectives on the Politics of Abortion examines the abortion issue from ethical, empirical, and legal angles and offers some rather unconventional analyses and surprising conclusions with regard to this familiar issue. One chapter argues that the emphasis on rights has made illegal and occasionally violent activity on the part of pro-life activists increasingly likely. Another chapter suggests that abortion is an instance of the more general right to self-defense. A chapter considers the problem of abortion from the standpoint of participants in the political process. And chapters examine the political tactics of the Roman Catholic Church and abortion rights in terms of constitutional due process. This important volume adds new voices and perspectives to the abortion debate.

The dramatic increase in religiously motivated political activity in the United States since the early 1980s has spawned an increased scholarly awareness of the relationship between religion and politics. The rise of such groups as the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition, and the Family Research Council attests to this growing intersection between politics and religion. Correspondingly, the amount of scholarly writing in this field has increased significantly. This volume compiles overviews of the existing research in religion and political behavior.Designed as a research and reference tool, this work includes over four hundred annotated bibliographic entries for books and journal articles by political scientists and sociologists. These sources encompass a wide variety of aspects concerning the relationship between religion and political behavior. The entries provide information on the theoretical basis, methodology, and result of each study. Entries are indexed by author, subject, and title.

Can individual decisions concerning whether or where to attend church, to contribute time or money to religious organizations, or to forgo certain activities be explained as a special case of economic theory? In Sacred Markets, Sacred Canopies, Ted G. Jelen brings together the leading scholars in the sociology of religion to debate market theories of religion. As the contributors examine whether or not religious choices can be understood as responding to the same laws of supply and demand as other forms of consumer behavior, they bring out many of the issues, controversies, and concerns surrounding this innovative theory. The result is a concise source for the arguments, evidence, and criticism of the market model of religious economies—a perfect starting point for students and scholars approaching this set of problems.

Presents an empirical study of Perot's 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns and the implications for third-party politics in the United States.Ross for Boss provides insights into the sources, continuity, and enduring importance of Ross Perot's presidential candidacies in 1992 and 1996 as a member of the Reform Party, and evaluates the impact of the Perot phenomenon on the future of both public policy and the U.S. party system. Using theoretical and historical literature on third parties and independent candidates, the contributors identify the sources of Perot's support and opposition among political activists and the mass public.Perot's supporters are understood as "zealots of the center" who resist partisan and ideological polarization. Perot himself, the authors suggest, was a master showman, able to use classical theatrical forms to establish himself as an improbable, yet inevitable, leader of a mass movement. His support came from people whose economic interests were directly threatened by increases in the global scope of the U.S. economy, and-like other third party candidates of the twentieth century-from those without formal religious affiliations. Comparisons of the 1992 and 1996 campaigns show that the decline in support for Perot was, for the most part, uniform across geographic regions and demographic groups.

Presents an empirical study of Perot's 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns and the implications for third-party politics in the United States.Ross for Boss provides insights into the sources, continuity, and enduring importance of Ross Perot's presidential candidacies in 1992 and 1996 as a member of the Reform Party, and evaluates the impact of the Perot phenomenon on the future of both public policy and the U.S. party system. Using theoretical and historical literature on third parties and independent candidates, the contributors identify the sources of Perot's support and opposition among political activists and the mass public.Perot's supporters are understood as "zealots of the center" who resist partisan and ideological polarization. Perot himself, the authors suggest, was a master showman, able to use classical theatrical forms to establish himself as an improbable, yet inevitable, leader of a mass movement. His support came from people whose economic interests were directly threatened by increases in the global scope of the U.S. economy, and-like other third party candidates of the twentieth century-from those without formal religious affiliations. Comparisons of the 1992 and 1996 campaigns show that the decline in support for Perot was, for the most part, uniform across geographic regions and demographic groups.

Should the wall of separation between church and state be permeable or inviolable? This question has been hotly contested since the nation's founding and contentious debates persist today. With a collection of the most significant documents and an introduction by Clarke E. Cochran that provides the historical context of the debate, prominent scholars Mary Segers and Ted Jelen debate the impact of organized religion on the democratic process, examine its influence on political discourse, and discuss its significance for the creation of public policy. The authors illuminate the constitutional implications of using religion to cultivate public morality and discuss the complexities of creating a civic-minded citizenry in a pluralistic society.

This work is a collection of essays that describe and analyze religion and regime relations in various nations in the contemporary world. The contributors examine patterns of interaction between religious actors and national governments that include separation, support, and opposition. In general, the contributors find that most countries have a majority or plurality religious tradition, which will seek a privileged position in public life. The nature of the relationship between such traditions and national policy is largely determined by the nature of opposition. A pattern of quasi-establishment is most common in settings in which opposition to a dominant religious tradition is explicitly religious. However, in some instances, the dominant tradition is associated with a discredited prior regime, in which a pattern of legal separation is most common. Conversely, in some nations, a dominant religion is, for historical reasons, strong associated with national identity. Such regimes are often characterized by a “lazy monopoly,” in which the public influence of religion is reduced.

Using data from the Williamsburg Charter surveys, this book provides a portrait of public attitudes on church-state issues. It examines the social, religious and political sources of differences on issues, making comparisons among Protestants, Catholics, Jews and non-denominational others.

Using data from the Williamsburg Charter surveys, this book provides a portrait of public attitudes on church-state issues. It examines the social, religious and political sources of differences on issues, making comparisons among Protestants, Catholics, Jews and non-denominational others.