¹Princeton University

^*I am thankful to Robert Wuthnow and the Center for the Study of Religion for funding the research for this article. For their comments, criticism, and advice, I am also grateful to Stephen Macedo, the three anonymous reviewers of Polity, and Kaley Warner Klemp.

Abstract

Contemporary debates over religious political discourse focus on the role that religion ought to play in the democratic forum. By emphasizing the normative dimensions of religious politics, however, these discussions overlook the structural conditions that shape the political actions of religious groups. To explore this more empirical side of religious discourse, this essay examines the political practices of James Dobson's Focus on the Family, a group that has steadily become the predominant voice in the conservative Christian movement. This case study shows that public discourse theorists underestimate the deep structural pressures that democratic institutions place upon the practices of religious groups. In particular, they overlook the two-fold effect of democracy: while the democratic process moderates Focus on the Family's use of religion in public debates, it also radicalizes their internal practices.