The Catholic Voter in American Politics: The Passing of the Democratic Monolith

Front Cover
Georgetown University Press, 1999 - Political Science - 260 pages

Once a keystone of the Democratic Party, American Catholics are today helping to put Republicans in office. This book traces changes in party allegiance and voting behavior of Catholics in national elections over the course of 150 years and explains why much of the voting bloc that supported John F. Kennedy has deserted the Democratic coalition.

William B. Prendergast analyzes the relationship between Catholics and the GOP from the 1840s to 1990s. He documents a developing attachment of Catholics to Republican candidates beginning early in this century and shows that, before Kennedy, Catholics helped elect Eisenhower, returned to the polls in support of Nixon and Reagan, and voted for a Republican Congress in 1994.

To account for this shifting allegiance, Prendergast analyzes transformations in the Catholic population, the parties, and the political environment. He attributes these changes to the Americanization of immigrants, the socioeconomic and educational advancement of Catholics, and the emergence of new issues. He also cites the growth of ecumenicism, the influence of Vatican II, the abatement of Catholic-Protestant hostility, and the decline of anti-Catholicism in the Republican party.

Clearly demonstrating a Catholic move toward political independence, Prendergast's work reveals both the realignment of voters and the influence of religious beliefs in the political arena. Provocative and informative, it confirms the opinion of pollsters that no candidate can take the vote of the largest and most diverse religious group in the nation for granted.

 

Contents

The Immigrant Church
3
Making Whos Who
12
and the End of Catholic Separatism
18
The Clergy and Politics 25 The Influence of Religious Belief on Voting
27
2
33
The Formation of a National Republican Party
46
48 Republican Victory in 1860
61
Catholic Role in Society
67
The Eisenhower Victory of 1952 120 The 1956 Election
129
Kennedy and the Return of the Prodigals
135
The Religious Gap 142 Differences Between
147
Elections of
155
Election
169
The Political Homogenization of American Catholics
176
The Campaign of 1852 41
198
The Republican Victory of 1994 201 The Campaign of 1996
205

Social and Political Change 69 Catholicism at the Turn of
77
The Elections of 1904 and 1908 87 Effects of Realignment of the Electorate
91
The Roaring Twenties 93 Catholics in the Twenties 94 The Democratic
103
The Republican Party and the Religious Issue 107 Enduring Effects of
112
American Catholics in the Wake of the War 116 The Election of 1948
118
A StandOff 216 Political Parties at the End of
218
How the Political Environment Changed 224 The Catholic Voter in
224
Additional Reading
240
Index
247
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