The impact of the Christian Right social movement on Republican Party development in the *Sout

In this study I evaluate the impact of the Christian Right social movement on Republican party politics, and electoral performance, during the period 1980 to 1998. My research focuses on the impact of the Christian Right on the party at both the elite and mass levels. The study is grounded in theories of party system change, as well as scholarly work on the political institutionalization of social movements.;First, I examine patterns of factionalism within the southern Republican electorate. I propose a new methodology for studying voter coalitions that takes into account the degree of religiosity of the voter, and identifies those voters most likely to support the political agenda and party candidates of the Christian Right. I identify issues, attitudes, and behaviors that differentiate Christian conservatives from other supporters of the Republican party.;Secondly, I focus on the primary stage of senate and gubernatorial campaigns to examine how elements of the Christian Right moved from outsider to insider status in the party and developed into a powerful party faction. I test hypotheses about the impact of intra-party factionalism on Republican general election margins by employing a statewide elections model that accounts for the existence of ideological factionalism in the primary stage, and the ideological orientation (and factional allegiance) of the primary winner. I argue that research on the effects of primary divisiveness on election outcomes is inadequate because scholars have not focused enough attention on the nature of the antecedents of divisiveness. The study provides clear evidence to support the contention that ideologically based factionalism has been detrimental to the Republicans in the 1990s, and electoral margins suffer when a Christian Right backed social conservative advancing from a divisive primary represents the party in the general election.;I argue that we can gain a more thorough understanding of the process of party system change by paying greater attention to the role of social movements in transforming political institutions and influencing electoral outcomes.