God in the Corridors of Power: Christian Conservatives, the Media, and Politics in America

Writing so as to be accessible and of interest to a general audience, Ryan (communication, U. of Houston) and Switzer (emeritus, communication and history, U. of Houston) analyze the role of Christian conservatism in American politics from the emergence of Protestant conservatism at the beginning of the 20th century through to the present. They explore how Protestant conservatism merged with a larger conservative coalition that achieved astonishing electoral success at all levels of American government partly because of their ability to achieve a coalition of political interests, partly because of an emerging consensus about what constitutes the conservative mindset, and partly because of conservative success in using their ownership and influence over commercial and noncommercial media to disseminate their ideas and attitudes. They also argue that the conservative coalition has been fracturing in recent years and consider the impact that this might have on the Christian conservative voice in American politics. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Michael Ryan, is a professor of communication in the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication at the University of Houston.

Les Switzer is a professor emeritus in communication and history at the University of Houston.