The Rights Turn in Conservative Christian Politics

Andrew R. Lewis is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati. He researches the intersection of religion, law, and American politics. He contributes to FiveThirtyEight and other media outlets, and is currently Book Review Editor at the journal Politics and Religion.

• Abbreviations; List of tables and figures; 1. Introduction: rights on the right; 2. Cultivating the value of rights: Evangelicals and abortion politics; 3. But words can never hurt me: learning the value of free speech; 4. Separation tranquility: abortion and the decline of the separation of church and state; 5. First do no harm: abortion and health care opposition; 6. Who's rights: abortion politics, victims, and offenders in the death penalty debate; 7. Where's the right? What abortion taught the losers in the gay marriage debate; 8. Conclusion. Rights, reciprocity, and the future of conservative religious politics; References; Appendix 1. Variable coding; Appendix 2. Statistical tables; Endnotes.

'Andrew R. Lewis has provided an excellent analysis which bridges the gaps between several subfields of political science. This work is empirically sophisticated, theoretically nuanced, and addresses important questions in normative democratic theory. As a study of the interplay of public opinion, public policy, and public discourse, this fine book will serve as an exemplar.' Ted G. Jelen, University of Nevada, Las Vegas