Elizabeth A. Oldmixon

Using an evidence-based, social-scientific approach to religion, Kenneth D. Wald and Elizabeth Oldmixon challenge the perception that religious influence in American politics is a problem to be solved. Instead, they contend that religion is a form of social identification that not only shapes our ideas about politics, but it also shapes the behavior of political elites and ordinary citizens, the interpretation of public laws, and the development of government programs. Ultimately, the authors show how religion plays a fascinating and crucial role in our nation's political process and in our culture at large.

Using an evidence-based, social-scientific approach to religion, Kenneth D. Wald and Elizabeth Oldmixon challenge the perception that religious influence in American politics is a problem to be solved. Instead, they contend that religion is a form of social identification that not only shapes our ideas about politics, but it also shapes the behavior of political elites and ordinary citizens, the interpretation of public laws, and the development of government programs. Ultimately, the authors show how religion plays a fascinating and crucial role in our nation's political process and in our culture at large.

In a very short time, LGBTQ issues have moved from the margins to the mainstream of American political life. The 1969 Stonewall Riots are commonly considered the start of the modern gay rights movement in the United States and within a few short years the number of gay groups and gay magazines precipitously increased. As gay civil society expanded, homosexuality transformed from a social identity to a political identity. On the basis of that identity, gay and lesbian activists engaged the political system to secure social and political rights in direct competition with religious traditionalism. This book investigates the development and the political implications of the LGBTQ rights movement in the United States. Oldmixon, Blackstone, and Watson aim to understand and explain the role of this movement in pluralistic, contemporary political life in the United States. Highlighting the cultural narrative, the book considers how the rights movement emerged and developed historically, at the mass level, and in the context of political institutions. First examining the science of sexuality, the book then discusses the development of an equal rights movement and the public’s attitudes on gays and lesbians. LGBTQ voting and representation, policies that involve gay rights, and a comparative perspective are also addressed. The book makes sure to not only examine lesbian, gay, and bisexual rights, but to also include discussion of transgender rights and the broader queer community. Queer Politics is a comprehensive, much-needed text for LGBTQ politics classes. Using the lens of cultural theory, the book examines how exactly such a marginalized group moved from the fringes to the mainstream of American political life.

In a very short time, LGBTQ issues have moved from the margins to the mainstream of American political life. The 1969 Stonewall Riots are commonly considered the start of the modern gay rights movement in the United States and within a few short years the number of gay groups and gay magazines precipitously increased. As gay civil society expanded, homosexuality transformed from a social identity to a political identity. On the basis of that identity, gay and lesbian activists engaged the political system to secure social and political rights in direct competition with religious traditionalism. This book investigates the development and the political implications of the LGBTQ rights movement in the United States. Oldmixon, Blackstone, and Watson aim to understand and explain the role of this movement in pluralistic, contemporary political life in the United States. Highlighting the cultural narrative, the book considers how the rights movement emerged and developed historically, at the mass level, and in the context of political institutions. First examining the science of sexuality, the book then discusses the development of an equal rights movement and the public’s attitudes on gays and lesbians. LGBTQ voting and representation, policies that involve gay rights, and a comparative perspective are also addressed. The book makes sure to not only examine lesbian, gay, and bisexual rights, but to also include discussion of transgender rights and the broader queer community. Queer Politics is a comprehensive, much-needed text for LGBTQ politics classes. Using the lens of cultural theory, the book examines how exactly such a marginalized group moved from the fringes to the mainstream of American political life.

Clergy are pillars of local religious communities, and Roman Catholic priests are perhaps the quintessential examples of pastors functioning as political elites. The political science literature demonstrates that priests (indeed, clergy more generally) are well-positioned to influence the faithful, even if this influence is somewhat inconsistent. At their core, priests are opinion leaders and representatives of their church to both the faithful and their local communities. But exactly how Catholic priests determine the political acts and attitudes associated with their elite role remains a puzzle. We suggest it is the product of an interactive institutional, social, and psychological milieu, the complexity of which has not been fully assessed in the extant literature. Though some might prefer to think of priests as profiles in courage operating above the political fray, the institutional and personal realities of priest life often forces them to deal with the political realm. In doing so, priests are variably responsive to different principals, or reference groups, that represent specific dimensions of their professional context. Drawing on a series of randomized experiments on samples of Roman Catholic priests in the US and Ireland, we find that priests cognitively draw on varying professional and personal cues in responding to their employer’s institutional preferences. Furthermore, how priests represent their church's political preferences to parishioners appears to be a matter of individual-level discretion.