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This research theorizes that the presence or absence in political conversation of racial cues—that is, references by elites and news media to images commonly understood as tied to particular racial or ethnic groups—may substantially influence wether citizens' racial cognitions contribute to their political judgments. In particular, such symbolic cues in discourse may activate an important linkage between an individual's racial perceptions and political ideology, which some scholars suggest have become closely intertwined in the U.S. political environment. With this in mind, an experiment was conducted in which the news discourse about crime was systematically altered—as including racial cues or not—within controlled political information environments to examine how individuals process, interpret, and use issue information in forming political judgments. The findings suggest that racial cues not only trigger the association between racial perceptions and political ideology but in turn may prompt individuals to become more ideologically distinct in their political evaluations.

Introduction a new religious politics -- One nation under God, divisible -- Political priests -- God and country -- Acts of communion -- Morality politics -- Religious politics and democratic vitality -- Act II

In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush and his administration offered a 'political fundamentalism' that capitalized upon the fear felt by many Americans. Political fundamentalism is the adaptation of a conservative religious worldview, via strategic language choices and communication approaches, into a policy agenda that feels political rather than religious. These communications dominated public discourse and public opinion for months on end and came at a significant cost for democracy

Research on the interplay of gender and political party in voters' candidate evaluations has long focused on all-male elections and more recently on mixed-gender elections. This study takes the next theoretical step and focuses on woman-versus-woman elections. Specifically, we examine political party- and gender-based "ownerships" of political issues and character traits in the context of female-only elections. With an experimental design, adult participants were randomly assigned to read news articles that presented either two Republican or two Democratic women competing for Governor. Candidates were presented as "owning" stereotypically masculine or feminine issues and traits. Findings show that self-identified Democrats and Republicans eschewed the so-called masculine candidate, and preferred instead a partisan woman who created a gender balance of masculinity and femininity.