The political mobilization of White evangelical populists in the 1970s and early 1980s (Jimmy Carter).

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

After a brief Introduction, Chapter Two examines President Jimmy Carter's identity as evangelical and populist. A brief biography of Carter is followed by a critical review of his evangelical credentials. The chapter then critiques Carter's populist credentials. Carter comes out seeming less as a dyed-in-the-wool populist than one who skillfully presents himself as such.
Chapter Three turns to the question that faced evangelicals in the 1970s: whether to embrace an activist position or withdraw from the culture into apolitical pietism.
Chapter Four argues that the media created the evangelical populist movement by giving them what they needed most, self-awareness. Media ignorance of the complexity of the American religious scene, particularly evangelicalism, led journalists to describe evangelicals in monolithic terms. Ironically, the misunderstanding stuck, and evangelicals bought the media line that they were a force to be reckoned with.
The study turns in Chapter Five to the catalyst that pivoted evangelicals from the shadows to the spotlight on the political stage. This chapter shows how reforms in the machinery of the Democratic Party created an opportunity for a populist takeover. Democratic efforts to move power from the local and state level up to the national level opened the way for ordinary Party members to dramatically influence the electoral machinery. Federal election finance reforms magnified the impact of these changes.
Chapter Six turns to the Carter campaign itself, and shows how all of these factors conspired to make evangelical populists the kingmakers in 1976. The chapter examines Carter's campaign strategy, and how his populist and evangelical image, Democratic reforms, evangelical activism, and the power of the media gave Carter both the nomination and presidency.
Chapter Seven looks closely at the relationship of the media with Carter and evangelicals, particularly how alternative, evangelical media outlets served as a kind of underground conduit for views and information not tainted (to evangelical eyes) by the secular outlook of elite, national media sources. The famous Playboy interview of Carter serves as a case study.
The study concludes in Chapter Eight with reflections and comments.