10
1998, 109). Part of the reason for the relative success/failure of some ecclesiastical elites in influencing
representative abortion position is the degree to which the elites have regular access to organizational
membership.
It is assumed that political and ecclesiastical elites interface from time to time in their
communities, but this does not mean that a causal influence between elite relationships and abortion
position necessarily exists.
5
In a time when American clergy approach theological and political issues
from a variety of perspectives, political elites are less likely to assume elite support for “pro-life” policies
without some signal from the elite or the elite community at large. In order to have the opportunity for
political influence, it is necessary for elites to adopt a public and consistent preference on abortion
policy.
6
If they do not, then it is possible that, even if religio-political capital is abundant, elites will not
possess enough of it to effectively influence representative abortion position.
Table 2 delineates the relative size of the evangelical Protestant and Roman Catholic
communities in the six states considered. These figures, measuring the number of parishes and
congregations, serve as a proxy measurement for the size of the elite communities in each state.
Following somewhat the traditional divisions in American Christianity, the data is broken down
according to Roman Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, and total faith measurements. The latter is the
5
D.A. Henderson, Executive Assistant to the Senior Pastor at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, TX, and the 15
th
largest Presbyterian church in the United States, relates that the church’s ministers have met several times with the Dallas Mayor,
but that the subject of the meetings centered entirely on neighborhood revitalization programs, not social and political issues.
This does not, however, negate the possibility that the ecclesiastical elites in this church possess influence over the decisions of
political elites, especially if, as in Highland Park’s case, the clergy represent a large parishioner community. In fact, the non-
political nature of the elite level meetings might be the establishment of a “tit-for-tat” relationship in which the ecclesiastical
elites are laying the groundwork for making overtures toward political elites regarding their abortion position. See Axelrod’s
(1980) The Evolution of Cooperation. New York: Basic Books.
6
Regarding abortion, few elite groups possess the degree of local salience and credibility to function as shortcuts for social and
political information as do those in Christian parishes and congregations (Verbit, 1970, 36-37). It is this elite community that is
the primary point of contact and cue maker between the worshipping community and the political sphere. While individual
members of local faith communities can attempt to influence the local culture through political activism, it is suggested here that
elites are in a crucially important authoritative position that enables them to act as proxy political influences in the local culture.
Convention