See the seminar's full schedule here: Alberto Alesina Seminar on Political Economy
Today's Speaker
Brian Knight (Brown University), "The Rise of the Religious Right: Evidence from the Moral Majority and the Jimmy Carter Presidency"
Abstract
We investigate the rise of the religious right in the context of the Moral Majority and Jimmy Carter, the first Evangelical President. During Carter’s Presidency, Jerry Falwell, a key televangelist, headed the newly formed Moral Majority, which turned against the incumbent Carter, a Democrat, and campaigned for Ronald Reagan, a Republican, in the 1980 Election. To investigate the role of religious leaders in the political persuasion of followers, we first develop a theoretical model of multidimensional politics in which single issue voters follow issue leaders when choosing which candidates to support. Using data from county-level voting returns, exit polls, and surveys, we find that, consistent with our model predictions, Evangelical voters followed the lead of the Moral Majority, shifting from supporting Carter in 1976 to Reagan in 1980. Using the irregular terrain model, we also find persuasion effects in counties that were exposed to the televised ministry of Jerry Falwell.... Read more about Brian Knight (Alesina Seminar)
