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Cultures at War explains the rise and impact of moral conflicts on the recent political life of western democracies. Smith and Tatalovich conceptualize all moral conflicts as clashes between egalitarian and hierarchical forces. At their core, moral conflicts are debates over "identity" and the status of various groups in society. The book is organized around the "stages" of the policy process, especially agenda-setting and adoption. How the policy process is affected by moral debate is analyzed through numerous case studies drawn mainly from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Central to the entire analysis are three moral conflicts - capital punishment, homosexuality, and abortion - though others, for example gun control, euthanasia, and fox hunting, are included to illustrate specific points

Introduction: A new politics for a new century -- Part 1: Raw material for a politics and policy of moral conflict -- Status anxiety and political ideology -- Cultural theory and warring cultures -- Part 2: Morality politics by unconventional means -- Breaking into or breaking apart the political system -- Politicians strike back: legislative restraints on morality policy -- The juridicization of the morality policy process -- Bypassing elites: morality policy by Plebiscite -- Part 3: Uncompromising ends of morality policy -- Building political consensus and the public peace -- Conclusion: morality policy and Democratic governance.