The Politics of Sacred Rhetoric

List of Tables and Figures

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART I: The Psychology of Sacred Rhetoric

1 Sacred Rhetoric in American Politics

2 Values and Value Conflict, Sacred Values and Sacred Rhetoric

3 The Reasoning Effect: Sacred Rhetoric and Deliberation

4 The Activation Effect: Sacred Rhetoric and Participation

PART II: Political Consequences of Sacred Rhetoric

5 "From My Cold, Dead Hands": Sacred Rhetoric and Social Movements

6 The Absolutist Advantage: Sacred Rhetoric in the Bush Era

7 Sacred Rhetoric from Carter to Clinton: The 1976-1996 Presidential Debates

8 Sacred Rhetoric, the 2008 Campaigns, and the Democratic Party

Conclusion: "A Cure for Thought and the Diseases It Breeds"

Methodological Appendix: Subjects, an Experimental Approach

Notes

References

Index