Religion in American Presidential Campaigns, 1952-2016: Applying a New Framework for Understanding Candidate Communication
The content and impact of religious communication in politics has been a topic of increasing public and scholarly interest in recent years. To provide a foundation for future research in this area, the present study theorizes five broad factors-historical trajectory, party expectations, audience rel...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
[2019]
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| In: |
Journal for the scientific study of religion
Year: 2019, Volume: 58, Issue: 2, Pages: 398-414 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Presidents
/ Political campaign
/ Religion
/ History 1952-2016
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy CG Christianity and Politics KBQ North America |
| Further subjects: | B
narrowcasting
B God gap B Religious Communication B Politics B campaign communication |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The content and impact of religious communication in politics has been a topic of increasing public and scholarly interest in recent years. To provide a foundation for future research in this area, the present study theorizes five broad factors-historical trajectory, party expectations, audience religiosity, candidate attributes, and opponent strategy-that may help explain why political candidates use religious language. We employ this framework in a large-scale computer-assisted content analysis of U.S. presidential campaign speeches from 1952 to 2016. Findings reveal that the Reagan shift observed in prior research was driven specifically by God language, that the "God gap" between Democrats and Republicans is modest and topic-specific, and that audience characteristics are crucial in explaining candidates' religious communication. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-5906 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12590 |