Journal Articles

Party Platforms and Party Coalitions: The Christian Right and State-Level Republicans

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In this article, I make a first attempt at identifying how coalitions are represented in a state party’s platform. Using the Christian Right as a test case for Republican coalition membership, I further examine the notion that platforms reflect elite opinion coalitions by linking coalition group influence to both elite opinion and the structure of the party organization. Using state Republican Party platforms from 2000, I identify the extent of Christian Right influence on each platform based on the proportion of platform paragraphs that focus on Christian Right issue positions and explain the variation in that proportion across states. My findings suggest that, indeed, the Christian Right’s power as a coalition player is evident in state Republican Party platforms, and, at least for the Christian Right, it seems that both mass opinions and elite opinions are at work in determining the tone of the Republican Party platform.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Party Politics

Call Number

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Publisher

: sage publisher., 2010

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

13540688

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Vol. 16 no. 5, September 2010.pp. 651-668

Subject(s)

Religion and politics
Christian right
State republican parties
PARTY PLATFORMS AND PARTY COALITIONS

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