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Religious Influences In Louisiana Elections (1924-1956), Benjamin Franklin Veit

Bachelor of Divinity

This paper attempts to discover the existence, if any, of religious influences in Louisiana elections since 1924. Several reasons bear upon both the selection of the state and the period. The author chose the State of Louisiana because it occupies a rather peculiar place in American politics. Typically a Southern state, Louisiana lacks, at least on the surface, a two-party system. Hence the complication of conflict between party loyalty and religious affiliation is removed. Louisiana is typical or the states of the South in that it contains a considerable Roman Catholic population. Indeed, the National Council of Churches has listed …