Religious influence and the politics of family decline concern: Trends, sources, and US political behavior

One of the most widely debated issues in contemporary sociology has been how to interpret patterns of family change in the United States during the past four decades. Much of these debates focus on a thesis advanced by a number of scholars and political activists-that such features of family structure as high divorce rates and an increasing proportion of single-parent families have led to the decline of the family. Although past research has examined the causes and historical trends involved in family change, scholars have neglected important questions about family attitudes that have been raised in recent debates. Have levels of public concerti with family decline increased over time? If so, what are the sources of these attitudes? And have changing levels of public concerti with family decline led to the emergence of a new political cleavage? This study applies a theory of religious influence to answer these questions. Results show that public concern with family decline increased steadily after 1980, leading to a new and increasingly large cleavage in presidential elections. The analyses also find that high levels of concern with family decline are concentrated among evangelical Protestants who attend church regularly. In addition to extending sociological research on family change in new and fruitful directions, these results bear productively on theory and research in political sociology and the sociology of religion. I discuss their relevance to long-standing debates over political trends among evangelical Protestants and the influence of Christian Right movement organizations.