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AbstractAmericans routinely petition their legislators for moral redress, drawing the US Congress into cultural debates about who we are as a people and what behaviors and social relationships are compatible with that shared identity. By engaging moral issues, Congress affirms one set of values over another, and legislative behavior is informed by cultural proxies such as religion, ideology, and partisanship. The institution falls short, however, when it comes to crafting lasting, comprehensive policy outputs in this domain. This is because moral issues do not lend themselves to compromise, whereas Congress is structured to seek compromise. The difficulties are exacerbated by party polarization driven by religious and ideological sorting. The upshot is that policymakers are often unable to build the broad coalitions necessary provide policy solutions. Assuming institutional arrangements and levels of polarization remain intact, and barring massive shifts in public opinion or developments in the courts, gridlock on moral issues will likely be the norm.

"Political Behavior of Religious Elites" published on by Oxford University Press.

Objective. This article explores the politics of cultural conflict in the U.S. House of Representatives (1993–1998) by analyzing legislator decision making on reproductive issues. Because reproductive policies represent a major contemporary cultural cleavage between feminists and religious traditionalists, decision making should be influenced by elite – and district –level variables reflective of culture. Methods. Pro –choice support scores are derived and, using OLS, are regressed on elite – and district –level cultural and noncultural variables. Results. Republican partisanship and elite ideological and religious conservatism produce low levels of support for pro –choice reproductive policies. Conclusions. Cultural theory is a useful lens through which to view congressional politics. In the area of reproductive policy, legislator decision making is influenced by an array of cultural considerations.

This article explores the politics of cultural conflict in the US House of Representatives (1993-1998) by analyzing legislator decision making on reproductive issues. Because reproductive policies represent a major contemporary cultural cleavage between feminists & religious traditionalists, decision making should be influenced by elite -- & district-level variables reflective of culture. Pro-choice support scores are derived &, using OLS, are regressed on elite -- & district -- level cultural & noncultural variables. Republican partisanship & elite ideological & religious conservatism produce low levels of support for pro-choice reproductive policies. Cultural theory is a useful lens through which to view congressional politics. In the area of reproductive policy, legislator decision making is influenced by an array of cultural considerations. 3 Tables, 52 References. Adapted from the source document.

Cultural factions are an intrinsic part of the fabric of American politics. But does this mean that there is no room for compromise when groups hold radically different viewpoints on major issues? Not necessarily. For example, in a June 2003 Time/CNN poll, 49% of respondents identified themselves as pro-choice and 46% identified as pro-life. But in the same poll, 81% indicated that abortion should be "always legal" or "sometimes legal," suggesting that "pro-life" and "pro-choice" are not discrete positions, but allow room for compromise. How do legislators legislate policy conflicts that are defined in explicitly cultural terms such as abortion, gay marriage, and school prayer? American political institutions are frequently challenged by the significant conflict between those who embrace religious traditionalism and those who embrace progressive cultural norms. Uncompromising Positions: God, Sex, and the U.S. House of Representatives investigates the politics of that conflict as it is manifested in the proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives. Oldmixon traces the development of these two distinct cultures in contemporary American politics and discusses the decision-making and leadership tactics used by legislators to respond to this division of values. She argues that cultural conflict produces an absolutist politics which draws on religious values not amenable to compromise politics. One possible strategy to address the problem is to build bipartisan coalitions. Yet, interviews with House staffers and House members, as well as roll calls, all demonstrate that ideologically driven politicians sacrifice compromise and stability to achieve short-term political gain. Noting polls that show Americans tend to support compromise positions, Oldmixon calls on House members to put aside short-term political gain, take their direction from the example of the American public, and focus on finding viable solutions to public policy—not zealous ideology

ABSTRACTIntroductory American government is a common component of college and university core curricula and, as such, it often is taught in large sections. This makes active learning more difficult, which may contribute to student dissatisfaction and lower levels of student achievement. In turn, this can affect larger issues of university retention. This article considers whether different models of instruction in large classes affect student success and satisfaction. We compare a lecture-only class and one that combined lectures with smaller student breakout sessions. To our surprise, we found that students in the breakout—lecture class were not more satisfied and did not succeed at higher levels as compared to their peers in the lecture-only class. Above all, attendance is the key predictor of student success.

This paper investigates the religious dimension of Republican legislators' participation in one-minute speeches during the 104th Congress (1995–1996). Many have characterized the House Republican Conference that emerged after the 1994 elections as a highly cohesive majority party. Even in that context, however, legislators represent varied personal agendas, and in part these are informed by religion. We topically coded a subset of floor speeches to measure the extent to which variation is observed in the issues addressed by Members of Congress. The findings demonstrate that on key policy domains, such as the role of government, culture, and social welfare, speech participation varies systematically on the basis of member religion. This suggests that legislative participation is influenced by genuine personal preferences in additional to strategic political factors.