Those who mistakenly assume the new Christian Right is a theocratic colossus threatening to control policy through electoral institutions need to read this book, written by many of the best scholars in the religion and politics field. Its painstaking analyses not only trace the political styles of religious movements in American history, with comparisons with other political systems, but define the real limitations of the current Christian Right. Beyond the big (and growing) evangelical tent, the movement has not met with much success as political proselytizer and mobilizer. Interestingly, the book also shows how absolutistic group goals are transformed by a gradualistic democratic system.

David C. Leege, University of Notre Dame

The volume attests to the sophistication in the measurment of religious variables made available to researchers investigating the relationship between religion and political behavior, including data from the American National Election Studies, polls sponsored by the Pew Foundation and the American Jewish Committee, and Voter News Service exit polls.

Journal Of Interdisciplinary Studies

Since the reawakening of the Christian Right as a major political force in the 1990s, this movement has been widely discussed and little understood. Here the history and development of this political force is laid out in all of its diversity and complexity. This collection of essays by some of the leading scholars in the field will help anyone trying to make sense of religion's impact on politics.

John McGlennon, College of William and Mary