ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews a reconstructive coalition theory of change by showing how Catholics were crucial partners in a variety of moral struggles, in many cases being the leaders or key figures in these movements. The timing of increases in Catholic descriptive representation in right-leaning parties in the United States correlates with the rise of contemporary conservative Christian coalitions. This coalition was aided by an institutional transformation – the end of Jim Crow – which made a conservative pan-Christian coalition easier to assemble. In addition to distinctive features of Catholicism that make them symbolically and organizationally central to a moral values coalition, there were institutional changes that allowed a reconstructive coalition to flourish. This moral values coalition has led to an increase in Catholic standing among conservative Protestants, in some cases leading to reconstruction of identity so that Catholics and Protestants are not simply tolerating each other, but are envisioned as falling under a similar identity.
