RETHINKING THE REASONABLENESS OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT

Using a sample of members of Moral Majority, we compare two general ex planations of activism within the organization: ''pathological'' theor ies, which posit a connection between personal deficiencies and conser vative political activism, and ''representational'' theories, in which supporters of right-wing organizations are thought to be motivated pr imarily by unrepresented policy preferences. We find much stronger sup port for the representational view and offer several possible explanat ions for this finding.