| Description |
viii, 249 pages ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [227]-240) and index |
| Summary |
"During the 2000 presidential campaign, George W. Bush made faith-based social services one of the centerpieces of his domestic agenda. These "faith-based initiatives," supporters argued, would reduce poverty, ease the strain on an overburdened welfare system, and prove more effective than government programs. Opponents feared rampant proselytizing with government funds. Instead, these practices created a system in which neither the greatest hopes of its supporters, nor the greatest fears of its opponents, have been realized." "Faith, Politics, and Power offers a systematic examination of where and how these programs were implemented. Rebecca Sager argues that faith-based initiatives were never aimed at helping the poor, but rather at expanding the reach of the Republican Party. She takes us inside faith-based policy conferences, which often were thinly disguised political rallies, and shows that the initiatives were implemented primarily in those states with the strongest evangelical and Republican movements. These programs offered an important symbolic victory to evangelical supporters of the Republican Party and helped blur the lines between church and state. They also allowed Republicans to reach out to African American churches and religious leaders in the hope of winning new allies to the conservative cause." "Despite the good intentions of many, these initiatives, which live on in the Obama administration, have become powerful political symbols in the fight to reshape church-state relationships and distribution of political power"--BOOK JACKET |
| Subject |
Faith-based human services -- Political aspects -- United States
|
|
Public-private sector cooperation -- Political aspects -- United States
|
|
Interorganizational relations -- United States
|
| Academic Subj. |
Sociology
|
| ISBN |
9780195391763 |
|
0195391764 |
|
