FUNDAMENTALISM ET-AL - CONSERVATIVE PROTESTANTS IN AMERICA

Since the rise of the religious right, scholars have become increasing ly interested in studying conservative Protestantism. Not only do cons ervative Protestants (CPs) make up at least a quarter of the US popula tion; they differ from many Americans in gender-role attitudes, childr earing styles, political orientation, and other ways as well. In fact, religious factors often predict people's political views better than do either class or gender, even though the latter two have received fa r more attention in the scholarly literature (Manza & Brooks 1997, Kel lstedt et al 1996b). Unfortunately research in this area has been hamp ered by imprecise measurement and poor understanding of the various mo vements grouped together as CPs. This has muddled statistical results, stifled theoretical development, and blinded researchers to promising areas of analysis. Thus, in this chapter we first discuss the history and distinctive qualities of the various CP movements, then we use th ese insights to propose better survey measures, and finally we apply t his knowledge to several substantive areas (i.e., gender-role attitude s, childrearing styles, tolerance, the ''culture wars,'' the religious right, and the reasons for the religious vitality of CP groups).