Religious Awakenings and Status Politics: Sources of Support for the New Religious Right

Explanations of conservative religio-political movements are examined regarding differing interpretations of historic religious awakenings in America and “status politics” interpretations of the contemporary New Religious Right Data about support for the New Religious Right from a Midwestern sample is used to examine these explanations. Results suggest that support for the New Religious Right is more strongly related to religious and cultural variables than to threatened statuses, as implied by status politics explanations. Implications for understanding the social dynamics of conservative religio-political movements are discussed.