Catholics and U.S. Politics After the 2024 Elections Trump Captures the "Swing Vote”

This book examines the evolution of the Catholic vote in the US and the role of Catholic voters in the 2024 national elections. There is a paucity of academic books on Catholic voters, even though they comprise nearly one-quarter of the US national popular vote (known as the “swing vote”). Understanding the intersection of religion, politics, and election outcomes in the US requires an analysis of the role played by Catholics. Catholic voters had a powerful influence on the re-election of Donald Trump and this volume untangles how the swing vote swung Right in 2024.The key topics are whether Trump’s Catholic outreach and commitment to social issues were key to his achieving a majority of the Catholic vote; the role of the Catholic bishops in US elections; the important role of the Catholic Latino vote in US elections; the conservative Catholic and evangelical alliance in US politics; and the distinctive politics of social justice Catholics and socially conservative Catholics. 

Chapter 1. Introduction: The “Catholic Vote” in the United States.- Part I. Political Parties and Ideologies.- Chapter 2. Catholic Patterns in the American Left.- Chapter 3. From National Populism to Post-Liberalism: When the American Catholic Right Justifies the End of Liberal Democracy.- Chapter 4. Donald Trump and the Past and Future of the Religious Right.- Chapter 5. The U.S. Bishops and the 2024 Election.- Part II. Catholics and U.S. Elections.- Chapter 6. Catholics and American Civil Religion in the 2024 Presidential Election.- Chapter 7. The 2024 Catholic Latinos’ Red Shift.- Chapter 8. Catholic Candidates and the Catholic Vote: Analyzing Support for Catholic Running Mates.- Chapter 9. Conclusion: The U.S. Catholic Vote Pendulum.

Marie Gayte is an associate professor of American Studies at Toulon University, France. She has co-edited four books, among which The Faces of Contemporary Populism in Western Europe and the US (2021). She was the recipient of a Fulbright research scholarship for 2023. 

Blandine Chelini-Pont is a Professor at Aix-Marseille University, France, where she teaches international relations and political science. Her work focuses on the interplay between religion, law, politics and international relations. She has written or co-written fifteen books, including most recently a Géopolitique des droits humains with Valentine Zuber (Le Cavalier Bleu, Paris, 2024). 

Mark J. Rozell is the dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University in Virginia where he holds the Ruth D. and John T. Hazel Faculty Chair in Public Policy. He has written or co-written thirteen books, including, most recently Executive Privilege: Presidential Power, Secrecy, and Accountability (forthcoming, fifth edition). He is co-editor of Religion and the American Presidency (2023, fourth edition).