Faith-Based Persistence and Permutations

Bartkowski, John P.; Grettenberger, Susan E.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90668-3_1

Faith-Based Persistence and Permutations

John P. Bartkowski³ &
Susan E. Grettenberger⁴

Chapter
First Online: 18 May 2018

217 Accesses
2 Citations

Abstract

Faith-based initiatives first entered the American lexicon over two decades ago, and the practice of government has been significantly altered ever since. This initiative’s genesis, effectively Faith-Based 1.0, formally began under Charitable Choice , a provision in 1996’s Welfare Reform Law. This provision offered clients of government funded job placement , housing, food distribution , and other programs the choice of receiving services from a faith-based or secular provider. It also reversed the longstanding requirement for faith-based organizations to secularize themselves before becoming eligible to bid for government service contracts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter: USD 29.95; Price excludes VAT (USA)

eBook: USD 69.99; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Softcover Book: USD 89.99; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Hardcover Book: USD 89.99; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

1.
On the Charitable Choice provision of welfare reform law and congregationally run poverty relief efforts, see, for example: Ammerman (2005), Bartkowski and Regis (2003), Chaves (1999), Cnaan et al. (2002). On the administrative and legal challenges associated with Charitable Choice , see for example: Kennedy and Bielefeld (2002), Brownstein (1999).
2.
An extensive treatment of the historical and legal dimensions of Charitable Choice in the U.S. for readers fluent in German is offered in Nagel (2006a). See also Nagel (2006b).
3.
Boorstein and Kindy (2009).
4.
The press release, from which quotes featured here are drawn, can be found at the following web address: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ObamaAnnouncesWhiteHouseOfficeofFaith-basedandNeighborhoodPartnerships/. Accessed November 15, 2016.
5.
Boorstein and Wan (2010). In another critique, Americans United cited 2008 Pew Research Center poll data revealing that “61 percent of Americans say groups that encourage religious conversion should not be eligible for public funding … [and] an overwhelming 73% say organizations that hire only people who share their religious beliefs should not receive government grants.” See http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2010/03/obama-inaction-on-faith-based.html. Accessed May 3, 2016.
6.
Boorstein and Kindy (2009), Boorstein and Wan (2010).
7.
Boorstein and Wan (2010).
8.
Waters (2010).
9.
Craig and Boorstein (2009).
10.
Waters (2010).
11.
Eschliman (2016). See also Shellnutt and Zylstra (2016).
12.
Smith and Martinez (2016).
13.
Towey (2016).
14.
Glueck (2017).
15.
Poggioli (2017).
16.
Sommer (2016).
17.
Montgomery (2017).
18.
See, for example, Wineburg (2007), Sager (2010). The “holy smoke and mirrors” depiction of faith-based initiatives seems to have originated with Sager based on a reference to what was then the title of her forthcoming work in the following publication: Chaves and Wineburg (2010).
19.
See Wuthnow (2004), Nagel (2013).
20.
Bartkowski and Regis (2003), Sager (2010).
21.
Unruh and Sider (2005). See also, Sider and Unruh (2004), Jeavons (2004), Monsma (2004).
22.
Smith and Sosin (2001).
23.
Monsma (2004).
24.
Nathan and Gais (1999), Poole (2003).
25.
Monsma (2004).
26.
Nagel (2006b). See also: Nagel (2010, 2013).
27.
Weber (1978), see also: Ebaugh et al. (2003).

References

Ammerman, Nancy Tatom. 2005. Pillars of faith: American congregations and their partners. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Google Scholar
Bartkowski, John P., and Helen A. Regis. 2003. Charitable choices: Religion, race, and poverty in the post-welfare era. New York: University Press.
Google Scholar
Boorstein, Michelle, and Kimberly Kindy. 2009. Faith-based office to expand its reach. The Washington Post, February 6. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020500834.html. Accessed 3 Nov 2016.
Boorstein, Michelle, and William Wan. 2010. Religious leaders worry that Obama’s faith council is for show. The Washington Post, February 3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020203770.html?sid=ST2010020301568. Accessed 3 Dec 2016.
Brownstein, Alan E. 1999. Interpreting the religion clauses in terms of liberty, equality, and free speech values—A critical analysis of “neutrality theory” and Charitable Choice. Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy 13: 243–284.
Google Scholar
Chaves, Mark. 1999. Religious congregations and welfare reform: Who will take advantage of “Charitable Choice?” American Sociological Review 64: 834–846.
Article Google Scholar
Chaves, Mark, and Bob Wineburg. 2010. Did the faith-based initiative change congregations? Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 39: 343–355.
Article Google Scholar
Cnaan, Ram A., C. Boddie Stephanie, Femida Handy, Gaynor Yancey, and Richard Schneider. 2002. The invisible caring hand: American congregations and the provision of welfare. New York: University Press.
Google Scholar
Craig, Tim, and Michelle Boorstein. 2009. Catholic Church gives D.C. ultimatum. The Washington Post. November 12, 2016. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/11/AR2009111116943.html. Accessed 3 Nov 2016.
Ebaugh, Helen Rose, Paula F. Pipes, Janet Saltzman Chafetz, and Martha Daniels. 2003. Where’s the religion? Distinguishing faith-based from secular social service agencies. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 42: 411–426.
Article Google Scholar
Eschliman, Bob. 2016. Donald Trump launches new faith-based advisory committee. Charisma News. September 23. http://www.charismanews.com/politics/elections/60126-donald-trump-launches-new-faith-based-advisory-committee. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
Glueck, Katie. 2017. Trump’s religious deal making pays dividends. Politico. December 7. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-religious-dealmaking-dividends-232277. Accessed 2 Jan 2017.
Jeavons, Thomas H. 2004. Religious and faith-based organizations: Do we know one when we see one? Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 33: 140–145.
Article Google Scholar
Kennedy, Sheila Suess, and Wolfgang Bielefeld. 2002. Government shekels without government shackles? The administrative challenges of Charitable Choice. Public Administration Review 62: 4–11.
Article Google Scholar
Monsma, Stephen V. 2004. Putting faith in partnerships: Welfare-to-work in four cities. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press.
Book Google Scholar
Montgomery, Peter. 2017. Ted Cruz Lost, but Trump is giving the religious right his cabinet. The Advocate. January 4. http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2017/1/04/ted-cruz-lost-trump-giving-religious-right-his-cabinet. Accessed 12 Jan 2017.
Nagel, Alexander-Kenneth. 2006a. Charitable Choice: Religiöse Institutionalisierung Im Öffentlichen Raum. Hamburg: Lit Verlag.
Google Scholar
Nagel, Alexander-Kenneth. 2006b. Charitable Choice: The religious component of the US welfare reform—Theoretical and methodological reflections on “Faith-Based Organisations” as social service agencies. Numen 53: 78–111.
Article Google Scholar
Nagel, Alexander-Kenneth. 2010. Public religion and state transformation: zero-sum game or fruitful partnership? Journal of Religion in Europe 3: 323–349.
Article Google Scholar
Nagel, Alexander-Kenneth. 2013. Agents, armies, allies: Semantics of public-private partnerships in US welfare reform. Journal of Religion in Europe 6: 175–200.
Article Google Scholar
Nathan, Richard P., and Thomas L. Gais. 1999. Implementing the Personal Responsibility Act of 1996: A first look. Albany, New York: The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.
Google Scholar
Poggioli, Sylvia. 2017. Steve Bannon aligns with Vatican hard-liners who oppose Pope Francis. National Public Radio, February 8. http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/02/08/514102356/steve-bannon-aligns-with-vatican-hardliners-who-oppose-pope-francis. Accessed 8 Feb 2017.
Poole, Dennis L. 2003. Scaling up CBOs for second-order devolution in welfare reform. Nonprofit Management & Leadership 13: 325–341.
Article Google Scholar
Sager, Rebecca. 2010. Faith, politics, and power: The politics of faith-based initiatives. New York: Oxford University Press.
Google Scholar
Shellnutt, Kate, and Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra. 2016. Who’s who of Trump’s “tremendous” faith advisors. Christianity Today. June 22. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/june-web-only/whos-who-of-trumps-tremendous-faith-advisors.html. Accessed 22 Dec 2016.
Smith, Steven Rathgeb, and Michael R. Sosin. 2001. The varieties of faith-related agencies. Public Administration Review 61: 651–670.
Article Google Scholar
Smith, Gregory A., and Jessica Martinez. 2016. How the faithful voted: A preliminary 2016 analysis. Pew Research Center. November 9. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a-preliminary-2016-analysis/. Accessed 2 Jan 2017.
Sider, Ronald J., and Heidi Rolland Unruh. 2004. Typology of religious characteristics of social service and educational organizations and programs. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 33: 109–134.
Article Google Scholar
Sommer, Allison Kaplan. 2016. Onward Christian cabinet: Trump’s White House picks are a Christmas gift for the religious right. Haaretz. December 14. http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-1.758733. Accessed 12 Jan 2017.
Towey, Jim. 2016. Obama’s sustained assault on religious liberty is finally over. National Review. December 12. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/442939/religious-freedom-conscience-rights-obama-administration-hillary-clinton-donald-trump. Accessed 22 Dec 2016.
Unruh, Heidi Rolland, and Ronald J. Sider. 2005. Saving souls, serving society: Understanding the faith factor in church-based social ministry. New York: Oxford University Press.
Book Google Scholar
Waters, David. 2010. Obama’s faith-based inertia. The Washington Post. February 9. http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2010/02/obamas_faith-based_inertia.html. Accessed 3 Nov 2016.
Weber, Max. 1978. Economy and society. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Google Scholar
Wineburg, Bob. 2007. Faith-based inefficiency: The follies of Bush’s initiative. New York: Praeger.
Google Scholar
Wuthnow, Robert. 2004. Saving America? Faith-based services and the future of Civil Society. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Department of Sociology, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
John P. Bartkowski
Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA
Susan E. Grettenberger

Authors

John P. Bartkowski
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Susan E. Grettenberger
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John P. Bartkowski .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Bartkowski, J.P., Grettenberger, S.E. (2018). Faith-Based Persistence and Permutations. In: The Arc of Faith-Based Initiatives. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90668-3_1

Download citation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90668-3_1
Published: 18 May 2018
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90667-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90668-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics