The Rise of the Christian Right in the South and Its Impact on National Politics

Abstract

The rise of the largely Evangelical-led Christian Right movement profoundly altered the Southern political landscape and eventually the national one as well. The “Solid South,” long a predominantly white Protestant and Democratic Party dominated region, has become largely Republican and anchored by white Protestants. As the South has become increasingly diverse and somewhat less distinctive, coalitions of minority groups, including religious minorities, are the backbone of the Democratic Party in the region. Since the 1980s, white Evangelicals have remained firmly committed to the GOP. What began in the South as a marginalized social movement focused on a narrow agenda eventually reconfigured the national party coalitions and played a major role on the election of Donald J. Trump as president.