Date of Award
Spring 6-14-2025
Document Type
Undergraduate Honors Thesis
Degree Name
B.A. in Political Science
Organizational Unit
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Political Science
First Advisor
Sara Chatfield
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
Conservatism, Evangelicalism, Falwell, Moral Majority, Republican Party
Abstract
In the 1970s and 1980s, the evangelical right became a reliable voting coalition for the Republican Party. Through the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, this group of individuals became fused to the GOP through social and financial concerns. A significant organization responsible for this was the Moral Majority, led by evangelical pastor Rev. Jerry Falwell. This paper aims to explain how Falwell was able to bring a traditionally uninvolved coalition of evangelicals to political activism and engagement. This is shown through analysis of the Moral Majority Report, as well as several other primary sources from this time. While there are many reasons that Falwell was successful, this paper argues that his utilization of fear in evangelicals, specifically fear of national immorality and the disapproval of God, was what allowed him to create such a large and enduring voting base.
Copyright Date
12-30-2024
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. This work may only be accessed by members of the University of Denver community. The work is provided by permission of the author for individual research purposes only and may not be further copied or distributed. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Alexis Spittal
Provenance
Received from Author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
21 pgs
File Size
345 KB
Recommended Citation
Spittal, Alexis, "The Moral Majority and Ronald Reagan: How Jerry Falwell’s Organization Used Morality to Create an Evangelical Coalition" (2025). Restricted Access ETDs. 131.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/restrictedetd/131