"The Transformation of the Christian Right" chronicles and analyzes the remarkable changes that have occurred in the Christian Right from its emergence in the late 1970s to the present. It documents the rapid turnover of Christian-Right organizations and explains the forces driving that kaleidoscopic change. Moen also traces the strategic shift of the movement's leaders, away from lobbying the Congress and toward mobilizing conservative activists in the grass roots; he demonstrates the substitution of liberal language (with its emphasis on "equality, rights, and freedom") for moralistic language (with its focus on "right and wrong"). Much has been written about the Christian Right's impact on politics but little about how years of political activism have shaped and influenced the Christian Right. Moen addresses that neglected side of the issue.

Since the early 1990s, whether elected representatives at the state and national levels should be limited to a specific term of office has been a contentious public policy question. Changing Members examines the case of Maine, which in 1996 became the first state in the entire nation where legislative term limits took effect in both chambers. Authors Matthew C. Moen, Kenneth T. Palmer, and Richard J. Powell have combined original survey data collected from Maine's legislators, several dozen interviews with legislators and other political elites, and participant observation of committee and floor proceedings to provide a complete picture of the new term limits' effects. Challenging conventional thinking on term limits and offering predictions of their likely impact in other states with citizens' legislatures, Changing Members is an essential source for citizens, elected officials and government workers, and scholars of political science.