ABSTRACT
Even though Americans love individualism and celebrate the heroic individual in literature and history, political power in the United States flows mostly from collective action. Organizing is an essential key to success in American politics. This chapter examines organized religious groups that work to affect politics and policy by tracing their roots, exploring their growth, and charting their responses to front- burner political issues. Although religious interest groups vary widely in organizational style, ideology, and focus, collectively they engage in the full range of political activities—lobbying legislatures and executive branch officials, mobilizing their constituents, attempting to influence public opinion and sometimes elections, and litigating in the courts. Religious advocacy obviously includes efforts to influence public policy by actual religious denominations, institutions, and communities, such as Catholic Charities USA, the American Jewish Committee, the Muslim American Society, or the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
