Learning from the Christian Right

"Oh, Woe Is Us! Well, Maybe Not" by Paul Starobin, in National Journal (Jan. 16, 1999), 1501 M St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005.

To hear many pundits and professors tell it, electorate not even bothering to vote and Big American democracy is ailing, with half the Money’s political influence growing ever stronger. How could a grassroots movement these days even hope to get off the ground? Well, says Starobin, senior writer at National Journal, "Cast aside all prejudices, and consider the reaffirming achievement of the Christian Right over the past two decades."

Look at how—despite the continual scorn of the national press and the academy—the Christian Right "has triumphed in placing its signature concern with traditional moral values and behavior at the center of political and cultural debate." Its footprints are everywhere, from the emphasis on personal responsibility in the 1996 welfare reform law to the declining rates of abortion and illegitimate births.

The Christian Right, says Michael E. McGerr, a professor of American history at Indiana University, Bloomington, "may well have done more to revitalize grass-roots democratic action than any other group in the last 10 years." Starobin limns some lessons for other groups:

Institutions are important. Despite all the talk of televangelism, "[the] Christian Right could not have become a mighty political player without a network of neighborhood churches." The Christian Coalition, founded by Pat Robertson in 1989, handed out 46 million "voter guides" in churches across the nation in 1996.

Think locally. "Back in the 1970s, when Jerry Falwell of the Moral Majority and other Christian Right leaders began urging their flocks to become politically active, the GOP was dominated by... Main Street and Wall Street. Through organizational work at every level of politics... the Christian Right became, within a decade, arguably the most powerful faction in the party." In 1994, when the GOP won control of Congress, evangelicals cast 29 percent of its total vote.

Ignore the national media. The Christian Right was first ignored by the national news media, then subject to largely scornful and uninformed scrutiny after it proved itself a force in the 1980 presidential elections. "The sneers...didn’t hurt the Christian Right at all—because the movement possessed its own media subculture of radio stations and cable-television networks."

Count on small donors. "The Christian Right’s success also shows that, when motivated, small donors can and will participate in a political movement in sufficient numbers to sustain the cause." In the 1988 Republican presidential primaries, candidate Robertson raised $19.4 million in individual donations averaging $106 per contributor, compared with George Bush’s $22.3 million raised and an average donation of $695.

"Fans of popular democracy," Starobin concludes, "should credit the Christian Right with showing that the American experiment is still— happily—alive to the possibility of achieving change through collective action. And rival groups should be studying its playbook."