David Karpf
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199898367
- eISBN:
- 9780199949717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199898367.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the book’s central argument. It uses the February 2011 labor protests in Wisconsin to examine the role that internet-mediated advocacy groups play in American ...
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Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the book’s central argument. It uses the February 2011 labor protests in Wisconsin to examine the role that internet-mediated advocacy groups play in American politics today. It also discusses the prevailing scholarship on internet politics, arguing that it has fallen into two categories—“organizing without organizations/theory 2.0,” which examines new forms of online participation, and “political normalization,” which highlights the resilience of elite political institutions. The chapter also challenges existing arguments regarding “clicktivism” and suggests that researchers have overlooked the “organizational layer” of politics. Sustained, large-scale collective action such as the Wisconsin protests is mediated through a new generation of advocacy groups that have a substantial impact on the practice of politics. The largest effect of the internet on politics is felt not through organizing without organizations, but through organizing with different organizations. The chapter also introduces core terminology, explains the method of analysis, and provides an overview of the book.Less
Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the book’s central argument. It uses the February 2011 labor protests in Wisconsin to examine the role that internet-mediated advocacy groups play in American politics today. It also discusses the prevailing scholarship on internet politics, arguing that it has fallen into two categories—“organizing without organizations/theory 2.0,” which examines new forms of online participation, and “political normalization,” which highlights the resilience of elite political institutions. The chapter also challenges existing arguments regarding “clicktivism” and suggests that researchers have overlooked the “organizational layer” of politics. Sustained, large-scale collective action such as the Wisconsin protests is mediated through a new generation of advocacy groups that have a substantial impact on the practice of politics. The largest effect of the internet on politics is felt not through organizing without organizations, but through organizing with different organizations. The chapter also introduces core terminology, explains the method of analysis, and provides an overview of the book.
David Karpf
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199898367
- eISBN:
- 9780199949717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199898367.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Chapter 2 places the new generation of internet-mediated organizations into historical context, emphasizing the substantive importance of the new communications technologies. Building upon the works ...
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Chapter 2 places the new generation of internet-mediated organizations into historical context, emphasizing the substantive importance of the new communications technologies. Building upon the works of Skocpol (2003), Bimber (2003), Bosso (2005), Berry (1999), and others, the chapter draws parallels between the well-studied “interest group explosion” of the 1970s and the rise of “netroots” political associations today. Both are predicated on changes to the technological environment, enabling changes in membership and fundraising regimes. Shifts in these regimes facilitate opportunities for a new set of political actors to experiment with novel structures for collective action. This transition can be properly understood as a “disruptive innovation,” in which longstanding organizations are displaced as the “market” for political mobilization is fundamentally redefined (Christensen 1997). After introducing the historical analogue, the chapter provides a detailed analysis of MoveOn.org, highlighting the innovations in staff structure, membership, fundraising, and strategy that have made it such an important force in American politics today. The chapter concludes by discussing the disruptive fundraising challenges that the MoveOn Effect poses for legacy advocacy groups. Drawing upon data from the Membership Communications Project dataset and new research by the Monitor Institute, it highlights the generational differences in online fundraising between new groups and old.Less
Chapter 2 places the new generation of internet-mediated organizations into historical context, emphasizing the substantive importance of the new communications technologies. Building upon the works of Skocpol (2003), Bimber (2003), Bosso (2005), Berry (1999), and others, the chapter draws parallels between the well-studied “interest group explosion” of the 1970s and the rise of “netroots” political associations today. Both are predicated on changes to the technological environment, enabling changes in membership and fundraising regimes. Shifts in these regimes facilitate opportunities for a new set of political actors to experiment with novel structures for collective action. This transition can be properly understood as a “disruptive innovation,” in which longstanding organizations are displaced as the “market” for political mobilization is fundamentally redefined (Christensen 1997). After introducing the historical analogue, the chapter provides a detailed analysis of MoveOn.org, highlighting the innovations in staff structure, membership, fundraising, and strategy that have made it such an important force in American politics today. The chapter concludes by discussing the disruptive fundraising challenges that the MoveOn Effect poses for legacy advocacy groups. Drawing upon data from the Membership Communications Project dataset and new research by the Monitor Institute, it highlights the generational differences in online fundraising between new groups and old.
David Karpf
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199898367
- eISBN:
- 9780199949717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199898367.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Not all netroots advocacy groups mimic MoveOn’s organizational structure. Chapter 3 turns attention to a set of large-scale community blogs that function as political associations. Previous blog ...
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Not all netroots advocacy groups mimic MoveOn’s organizational structure. Chapter 3 turns attention to a set of large-scale community blogs that function as political associations. Previous blog researchers have chiefly treated bloggers as a single population of “citizen journalists” seeking to transform the media system (Davis 2009, Perlmutter 2008, Pole 2009) or as a new set of political elites, demographically similar to their predecessors (Hindman 2009). This chapter focuses attention on the activity and operation of DailyKos.com to argue that these online advocates are using blogging to act as online organizers rather than online journalists. Using data from the Blogosphere Authority Index (Karpf 2008a, 2008b), this chapter explores the role that community blogs play in the overall ecology of netroots advocacy groups. It also confronts several longstanding mistakes made by blog researchers. Community blogs are the most-hybridized of all the new advocacy organizations, so much so that they are completely ignored by interest group scholars. The chapter emphasizes the participatory volunteer structure built into the DailyKos software platform and also points to key differences in progressive and conservative use of political blogs.Less
Not all netroots advocacy groups mimic MoveOn’s organizational structure. Chapter 3 turns attention to a set of large-scale community blogs that function as political associations. Previous blog researchers have chiefly treated bloggers as a single population of “citizen journalists” seeking to transform the media system (Davis 2009, Perlmutter 2008, Pole 2009) or as a new set of political elites, demographically similar to their predecessors (Hindman 2009). This chapter focuses attention on the activity and operation of DailyKos.com to argue that these online advocates are using blogging to act as online organizers rather than online journalists. Using data from the Blogosphere Authority Index (Karpf 2008a, 2008b), this chapter explores the role that community blogs play in the overall ecology of netroots advocacy groups. It also confronts several longstanding mistakes made by blog researchers. Community blogs are the most-hybridized of all the new advocacy organizations, so much so that they are completely ignored by interest group scholars. The chapter emphasizes the participatory volunteer structure built into the DailyKos software platform and also points to key differences in progressive and conservative use of political blogs.
David Karpf
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199898367
- eISBN:
- 9780199949717
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199898367.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
The internet is facilitating a generational transition within America’s advocacy group system. New “netroots” political associations have arisen in the past decade and play an increasingly prominent ...
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The internet is facilitating a generational transition within America’s advocacy group system. New “netroots” political associations have arisen in the past decade and play an increasingly prominent role in citizen political mobilization. At the same time, the organizations that mediate citizen political engagement and sustained collective action are changing. They rely upon modified staff structures and work routines. They employ novel strategies and tactical repertoires. Rather than “organizing without organizations,” the new media environment has given rise to “organizing through different organizations.” This book provides a richly detailed analysis of this disruptive transformation. It highlights changes in membership and fundraising regimes—established industrial patterns of supporter interaction and revenue streams—that were pioneered by MoveOn.org and have spread broadly within the advocacy system. Through interviews, content analysis, and direct observation of the leading netroots organizations, the book offers fresh insights into 21st-century political organizing. The book highlights important variations among the new organizations—including internet-mediated issue generalists like MoveOn, community blogs like DailyKos.com, and neo-federated groups like DemocracyforAmerica.com. It also explores a wider set of netroots infrastructure organizations that provide supporting services to membership-based advocacy associations. The rise of the political netroots has had a distinctly partisan character: conservatives have repeatedly tried and failed to build equivalents to the organizations and infrastructure of the progressive netroots. The book investigates these efforts, as well as the late-forming Tea Party movement, and introduces the theory of Outparty Innovation Incentives as an explanation for the partisan adoption of political technology.Less
The internet is facilitating a generational transition within America’s advocacy group system. New “netroots” political associations have arisen in the past decade and play an increasingly prominent role in citizen political mobilization. At the same time, the organizations that mediate citizen political engagement and sustained collective action are changing. They rely upon modified staff structures and work routines. They employ novel strategies and tactical repertoires. Rather than “organizing without organizations,” the new media environment has given rise to “organizing through different organizations.” This book provides a richly detailed analysis of this disruptive transformation. It highlights changes in membership and fundraising regimes—established industrial patterns of supporter interaction and revenue streams—that were pioneered by MoveOn.org and have spread broadly within the advocacy system. Through interviews, content analysis, and direct observation of the leading netroots organizations, the book offers fresh insights into 21st-century political organizing. The book highlights important variations among the new organizations—including internet-mediated issue generalists like MoveOn, community blogs like DailyKos.com, and neo-federated groups like DemocracyforAmerica.com. It also explores a wider set of netroots infrastructure organizations that provide supporting services to membership-based advocacy associations. The rise of the political netroots has had a distinctly partisan character: conservatives have repeatedly tried and failed to build equivalents to the organizations and infrastructure of the progressive netroots. The book investigates these efforts, as well as the late-forming Tea Party movement, and introduces the theory of Outparty Innovation Incentives as an explanation for the partisan adoption of political technology.
Paul Lichterman and Rhys H. Williams
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479854769
- eISBN:
- 9781479834457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479854769.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Paul Lichterman and Rhys H. Williams’s chapter focuses on theologically liberal Mainline Protestants, who have historically been at the forefront of many progressive religious actions. First, the ...
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Paul Lichterman and Rhys H. Williams’s chapter focuses on theologically liberal Mainline Protestants, who have historically been at the forefront of many progressive religious actions. First, the chapter outlines some of the distinctive cultural challenges Mainliners face when they try to bring a specifically religious voice to progressive political advocacy. It then shows how Mainline Protestant identity and communication style, as well as the larger reputation of vocal conservative Christianity in public, all create cultural gaps that politically progressive Protestants must confront and engage.Less
Paul Lichterman and Rhys H. Williams’s chapter focuses on theologically liberal Mainline Protestants, who have historically been at the forefront of many progressive religious actions. First, the chapter outlines some of the distinctive cultural challenges Mainliners face when they try to bring a specifically religious voice to progressive political advocacy. It then shows how Mainline Protestant identity and communication style, as well as the larger reputation of vocal conservative Christianity in public, all create cultural gaps that politically progressive Protestants must confront and engage.
Steven M. Tipton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226804743
- eISBN:
- 9780226804767
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226804767.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Since the 2000 presidential election, debate over the role of religion in public life has followed a narrow course as pundits and politicians alike have focused on the influence wielded by ...
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Since the 2000 presidential election, debate over the role of religion in public life has followed a narrow course as pundits and politicians alike have focused on the influence wielded by conservative Christians. But what about more mainstream Christians? This book examines the political activities of Methodists and mainline churches in its investigation of a generation of denominational strife among church officials, lobbyists, and activists. The result is an account that upends common stereotypes while asking questions about the contested relationship between church and state. Documenting a wide range of reactions to two radically different events—the invasion of Iraq and the creation of the faith-based initiatives program—the book charts the new terrain of religious and moral argument under President George Bush's administration from Pat Robertson to Jim Wallis. It then turns to the case of the United Methodist Church, of which President Bush is a member, to uncover the twentieth-century history of their political advocacy, culminating in current threats to split the Church between liberal peace-and-justice activists and crusaders for evangelical renewal. The book balances the firsthand drama of this internal account with a meditative exploration of the wider social impact that mainline churches have had in a time of diverging fortunes and diminished dreams of progress. An analysis of how churches keep moral issues alive in politics, it delves deep into mainline Protestant efforts to enlarge civic conscience and cast clearer light on the commonweal, offering an overview of public religion in America.Less
Since the 2000 presidential election, debate over the role of religion in public life has followed a narrow course as pundits and politicians alike have focused on the influence wielded by conservative Christians. But what about more mainstream Christians? This book examines the political activities of Methodists and mainline churches in its investigation of a generation of denominational strife among church officials, lobbyists, and activists. The result is an account that upends common stereotypes while asking questions about the contested relationship between church and state. Documenting a wide range of reactions to two radically different events—the invasion of Iraq and the creation of the faith-based initiatives program—the book charts the new terrain of religious and moral argument under President George Bush's administration from Pat Robertson to Jim Wallis. It then turns to the case of the United Methodist Church, of which President Bush is a member, to uncover the twentieth-century history of their political advocacy, culminating in current threats to split the Church between liberal peace-and-justice activists and crusaders for evangelical renewal. The book balances the firsthand drama of this internal account with a meditative exploration of the wider social impact that mainline churches have had in a time of diverging fortunes and diminished dreams of progress. An analysis of how churches keep moral issues alive in politics, it delves deep into mainline Protestant efforts to enlarge civic conscience and cast clearer light on the commonweal, offering an overview of public religion in America.
Daniel Naujoks
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780198084983
- eISBN:
- 9780199082643
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198084983.003.0009
- Subject:
- Sociology, Migration Studies (including Refugee Studies)
For the assessment of the effect of a diasporic membership status like Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) has on India’s development, this chapter explores what its consequences are on ...
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For the assessment of the effect of a diasporic membership status like Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) has on India’s development, this chapter explores what its consequences are on development-related behavior and interaction. It assesses the effects of OCI on the ability of overseas Indians and their decision to indulge in development-related activities, as well as the permissibility of such activities, the consequences of the four principal effects discussed in the previous chapters are broken down to concrete actions and transactions. Distinguishing six different groups of individuals that are affected by the principal effects, this chapter elaborates upon several concrete mechanisms concerning the effects of OCI on developmental activities with regard to remittances, investment, political advocacy, diasporic philanthropy, return and re-migration. It concludes with a preliminary exploration of the possibilities of incorporating these findings into a more general framework to assess the development effects of diasporic membership statuses that applies to other diasporic communities.Less
For the assessment of the effect of a diasporic membership status like Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) has on India’s development, this chapter explores what its consequences are on development-related behavior and interaction. It assesses the effects of OCI on the ability of overseas Indians and their decision to indulge in development-related activities, as well as the permissibility of such activities, the consequences of the four principal effects discussed in the previous chapters are broken down to concrete actions and transactions. Distinguishing six different groups of individuals that are affected by the principal effects, this chapter elaborates upon several concrete mechanisms concerning the effects of OCI on developmental activities with regard to remittances, investment, political advocacy, diasporic philanthropy, return and re-migration. It concludes with a preliminary exploration of the possibilities of incorporating these findings into a more general framework to assess the development effects of diasporic membership statuses that applies to other diasporic communities.
Daniel Naujoks
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780198084983
- eISBN:
- 9780199082643
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198084983.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Migration Studies (including Refugee Studies)
This chapter contains a conceptual framework of migration and development. It elaborates upon the meanings, concepts, and metrics of development, India’s development needs, as well as the diasporic ...
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This chapter contains a conceptual framework of migration and development. It elaborates upon the meanings, concepts, and metrics of development, India’s development needs, as well as the diasporic activities that may affect developmental categories in India. It reflects on the major stages in the migration cycle, emigration, interactions between the migrants and the homeland during the migrants’ stay abroad—so-called diaspora options—return migration, and lastly, re-migration. It also considers and examines a wide range of direct, intermediary, and indirect effects of the Indian diaspora on the social and economic development of India—investment, remittances, trade, philanthropy and social change, the transmission of knowledge and skills, national branding, and political advocacy. The chapter discerns migration-related contributions to major drivers of economic and human development, such as investment, consumption, trade, as well as innovation and entrepreneurship, on the one hand, and disposable income, institutions and facilities and social patterns, on the other.Less
This chapter contains a conceptual framework of migration and development. It elaborates upon the meanings, concepts, and metrics of development, India’s development needs, as well as the diasporic activities that may affect developmental categories in India. It reflects on the major stages in the migration cycle, emigration, interactions between the migrants and the homeland during the migrants’ stay abroad—so-called diaspora options—return migration, and lastly, re-migration. It also considers and examines a wide range of direct, intermediary, and indirect effects of the Indian diaspora on the social and economic development of India—investment, remittances, trade, philanthropy and social change, the transmission of knowledge and skills, national branding, and political advocacy. The chapter discerns migration-related contributions to major drivers of economic and human development, such as investment, consumption, trade, as well as innovation and entrepreneurship, on the one hand, and disposable income, institutions and facilities and social patterns, on the other.
Lauren Frances Turek
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781501748912
- eISBN:
- 9781501748936
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501748912.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter explores how evangelical internationalism developed into a focused vision for U.S. foreign relations that provided the foundation for political advocacy on a wide range of global issues ...
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This chapter explores how evangelical internationalism developed into a focused vision for U.S. foreign relations that provided the foundation for political advocacy on a wide range of global issues by the late 1970s and early 1980s. It argues that a powerful evangelical foreign policy emerged in response to growing anxieties about developments in international relations. It also explains how evangelicals drew on their connections with coreligionists abroad and combined their spiritual beliefs with human rights language in order to build support among policymakers for the cause of international religious liberty. The chapter reflects the layered and multimodal nature of evangelical internationalist development and of the foreign policy challenges that evangelical activists confronted. It also reveals how evangelical leaders, missionaries, and interest groups drew on their political power and the international evangelical network to shape international relations and national policies in the United States, the Soviet Union, Guatemala, and South Africa.Less
This chapter explores how evangelical internationalism developed into a focused vision for U.S. foreign relations that provided the foundation for political advocacy on a wide range of global issues by the late 1970s and early 1980s. It argues that a powerful evangelical foreign policy emerged in response to growing anxieties about developments in international relations. It also explains how evangelicals drew on their connections with coreligionists abroad and combined their spiritual beliefs with human rights language in order to build support among policymakers for the cause of international religious liberty. The chapter reflects the layered and multimodal nature of evangelical internationalist development and of the foreign policy challenges that evangelical activists confronted. It also reveals how evangelical leaders, missionaries, and interest groups drew on their political power and the international evangelical network to shape international relations and national policies in the United States, the Soviet Union, Guatemala, and South Africa.
Wei Ming Dariotis and Grace J. Yoo
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781447301011
- eISBN:
- 9781447307228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447301011.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
An examination of the role of race in the voting patterns of mothers seeking better outcomes for their children's future during the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
An examination of the role of race in the voting patterns of mothers seeking better outcomes for their children's future during the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
Ian Kumekawa
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691163482
- eISBN:
- 9781400885206
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691163482.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter describes the circumstances of Pigou's retirement. Despite all the vitriol Pigou spewed during the late 1940s and 1950s, he was hardly as despairing or as resentful as he had been over ...
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This chapter describes the circumstances of Pigou's retirement. Despite all the vitriol Pigou spewed during the late 1940s and 1950s, he was hardly as despairing or as resentful as he had been over the preceding one and a half decades. Certainly, his softening toward the public and his general change in outlook were naturally concordant with a late-blooming acceptance of his waning position in academic economics. It was not that Pigou retired completely from academic circles. He continued to contribute to organs like The Economic Journal and Economica, and between 1947 and 1954, he published twelve journal articles, several of which were quite technical. But he also began to explore new topics and relaxed his standards on political advocacy in economics journals as he was doing in his submissions to the popular press.Less
This chapter describes the circumstances of Pigou's retirement. Despite all the vitriol Pigou spewed during the late 1940s and 1950s, he was hardly as despairing or as resentful as he had been over the preceding one and a half decades. Certainly, his softening toward the public and his general change in outlook were naturally concordant with a late-blooming acceptance of his waning position in academic economics. It was not that Pigou retired completely from academic circles. He continued to contribute to organs like The Economic Journal and Economica, and between 1947 and 1954, he published twelve journal articles, several of which were quite technical. But he also began to explore new topics and relaxed his standards on political advocacy in economics journals as he was doing in his submissions to the popular press.
James A. Diamond
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906764951
- eISBN:
- 9781800343344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906764951.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter points out how modern Jewish thinkers looked back and engaged a foundational Jewish canon of scriptural and rabbinic texts when they staked out their own novel ground and advanced Jewish ...
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This chapter points out how modern Jewish thinkers looked back and engaged a foundational Jewish canon of scriptural and rabbinic texts when they staked out their own novel ground and advanced Jewish thought in the twentieth century. It mentions the intellectual and jurisprudential legacy of Maimonides as a major part of the development of Jewish law and thought. It also focuses on Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook, who embodies modern Jewish authenticity in the twentieth century. The chapter discusses Jewish intellectual, literary, and activist currents that intersected Rabbi Kook. It explores Rabbi Kook's passionate spiritual and political advocacy of Zionism, and his rabbinic leadership of pre-state Jaffa. It describes how Rabbi Kook was constantly driven by an irrepressible urge to disclose his most intimate reflections, no matter what the consequences might be.Less
This chapter points out how modern Jewish thinkers looked back and engaged a foundational Jewish canon of scriptural and rabbinic texts when they staked out their own novel ground and advanced Jewish thought in the twentieth century. It mentions the intellectual and jurisprudential legacy of Maimonides as a major part of the development of Jewish law and thought. It also focuses on Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook, who embodies modern Jewish authenticity in the twentieth century. The chapter discusses Jewish intellectual, literary, and activist currents that intersected Rabbi Kook. It explores Rabbi Kook's passionate spiritual and political advocacy of Zionism, and his rabbinic leadership of pre-state Jaffa. It describes how Rabbi Kook was constantly driven by an irrepressible urge to disclose his most intimate reflections, no matter what the consequences might be.
Stephen J. Fichter, Thomas P. Gaunt, Catherine Hoegeman, and Paul M. Perl
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- February 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190920289
- eISBN:
- 9780190920319
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190920289.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter discusses Catholic bishops speaking out on issues of the day. Catholic Church teaching and tradition yields “conservative” positions on issues such as abortion and physician-assisted ...
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This chapter discusses Catholic bishops speaking out on issues of the day. Catholic Church teaching and tradition yields “conservative” positions on issues such as abortion and physician-assisted suicide and “liberal” positions on issues such as immigration, capital punishment, and assistance to the poor. Survey data finds that bishops tend to write more frequently about the Church’s pro-life teachings than its “liberal” social teachings. Most bishops say they ask Catholics to consider Catholic teachings when voting for candidates. Most bishops agree that the clergy sexual abuse scandal has made it more difficult for them to present or defend Catholic teaching in their diocese. This is especially the case in dioceses where the scandal has received more media coverage. In general, bishops say that criticism in the media is a greater problem for them in more secularized areas of the country.Less
This chapter discusses Catholic bishops speaking out on issues of the day. Catholic Church teaching and tradition yields “conservative” positions on issues such as abortion and physician-assisted suicide and “liberal” positions on issues such as immigration, capital punishment, and assistance to the poor. Survey data finds that bishops tend to write more frequently about the Church’s pro-life teachings than its “liberal” social teachings. Most bishops say they ask Catholics to consider Catholic teachings when voting for candidates. Most bishops agree that the clergy sexual abuse scandal has made it more difficult for them to present or defend Catholic teaching in their diocese. This is especially the case in dioceses where the scandal has received more media coverage. In general, bishops say that criticism in the media is a greater problem for them in more secularized areas of the country.
