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Motive and Opportunity: British Christian Parties 1997–2011

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2013

Steve Bruce
Steve Bruce*
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Steve Bruce, School of Social Science, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3QY, United Kingdom. E-mail: s.bruce@abdn.ac.uk
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Abstract

The absence from Britain of anything like the United States New Christian Right of the 1980s could be explained by differences in the popularity of religion or in features of the respective party and political structures. Devolution and electoral reform have encouraged British Christians to form political parties and contest elections. Examination of their performance, agendas, and candidate profiles, coupled with survey data on British attitudes to mixing religion and politics, suggests that the major difference between the United States and Britain lies in the degree of secularization rather than in political opportunity structures.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , March 2013 , pp. 3 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2013 

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