AN ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT IN THE 1998 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION: A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
The recently completed mid-term election witnessed a setback for the Republican Party in that the party suffered a net loss in congressional representation when they were expected and where long-term voting trends in non presidential general elections favor the party not controlling the Presidency. There has been and likely will continue to be acrimonious debate among Republicans over the cause of their unexpectedly poor performance at the polls.
While there are many points of debate connected with this issue, one of the most interesting concerns the role of the religious right as a causal factor in the poor electoral performance of Republicans in the 1998 congressional election. The religious right claims that if its values had been promoted and if its strategies had been followed, the November election results. Republican opponents of the religious right tend to agree, holding that Republican losses would have been even greater if the values of the religious right had been promoted more strongly by the Republicans and if the strategies of the religious right had been followed faithfully by the Republican Party.
Research is proposed to investigate this issue. Most of the sources that will be used to assess the role of the religious right in the performance of the Republican Party in the 1998 congressional election will be current news reports actual election returns. A preliminary list of background references are attached to this proposal, however, as these and other source materials will be consulted in the development of a framework for the proposed investigation.
Preliminary Background Reference List
Anderson, W. L. (1994, January). Onward, Christian soldiers? Reason, 25(8), 28-34.
Beck, R. H. (1996). Prophets & politics: A handbook on the Washington offices of U.S. Washington: Academic Press.
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