Family, State, and God: Ideologies of the Right-to-Life Movement

This paper examines the differences between ideologies of elite and mass publics in the case of the abortion issue. It argues that within the Right-to-Life movement there exists two different conceptual frameworks: a “pro-life” framework advocated by the elite, and a “pro-family” framework advocated...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Neitz, Mary Jo (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: [publisher not identified] 1981
In: Sociological analysis
Year: 1981, Volume: 42, Issue: 3, Pages: 265-276
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Summary:This paper examines the differences between ideologies of elite and mass publics in the case of the abortion issue. It argues that within the Right-to-Life movement there exists two different conceptual frameworks: a “pro-life” framework advocated by the elite, and a “pro-family” framework advocated by the mass. Using ethnographic data from a Catholic Charismatic prayer group it shows that the pro-family framework demonstrates both range and centrality, but in regard to concerns quite different from those of the elite. These characteristics (range and centrality) have been ascribed to only elite publics by Converse and others who argue that coherent belief systems are the property of informed elites. This paper suggests otherwise: that both elites and mass publics have coherent belief systems although their contents may differ.
ISSN:2325-7873
Contains:Enthalten in: Sociological analysis
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3711038