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Religious Conservatives and the Requirements of Citizenship: Political Autonomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2008

Kimberly H. Conger  and
Bryan T. McGraw
Kimberly H. Conger
Affiliation:
Iowa State University. E-mail: [email protected]
Bryan T. McGraw
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Many scholars have viewed the rise and political influence of religious conservatives in the U.S. with some alarm, arguing that their commitments are so illiberal and undemocratic as to be a substantial threat to the creation and maintenance of a just and stable democratic polity. In particular, many worry that religious conservatives lack the requisite civic virtues necessary to making pluralist democracies work. After attending to what sorts of virtues a good citizen ought to possess, we present evidence drawn from interviews with state-level religious conservative activists suggesting that political mobilization and integration into institutions of deliberation and electoral contestation actually works to make them better citizens, at least with respect to one important virtue, political autonomy. If such engagement can temporize the dangers politicized religion can sometimes pose, those concerned about religion's public influence might have their fears eased. Religious conservative activists can make for good citizens, fellow participants in the project of constructing a common political order that is durable, decent, and democratic.

Type
Research Article
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 253 - 266
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2008

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