Taking America Back For God

Read Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry's "Taking America Back for God" and we will be applying Joel Best's framework to their book throughout the time that we read it. The goal in this section of the
course is for you to start applying the social problems framework to what you are reading. We want to take
Whitehead and Perry seriously, but that does not mean that we will accept everything they say.
For next class, read the preface and introduction to Taking America Back for God ( TABG). Second, find out
what you can about Whitehead and Perry. Who are they? Where were they educated? What do they tell people about their background that may have led them to write this book? Third, what are they arguing in the preface
and introduction? How does their framing fit into Joel Best's model (hint: Look for hints of claims, inside/outside
claimsmakers, media as claimsmakers, public reaction, policy, social problems work, and policy analysis)? Are
Whitehead and Perry inside or outside claimsmakers and how does that affect how you understand their
argument? How does thinking about their research tools (interviews and survey data) tell you what kind of
information they gathered? What kinds of conclusions do you think theycan draw from this material? How will
that affect their argument? Why does knowing this kind of material matter?