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Abstract
This study investigated the renegotiation of the term "family." The writings of New Christian Right authors and several 1992 presidential campaign speeches served as the primary texts for this study. Working from McGee's writings on ideographs, this dissertation argues that "family" is a secondary value term which regulates the tension between the primary values of property and equality. This dissertation expands previous literature by explaining how "family" works to substitute for "worn out" political terms, phrases and positions. This study also identifies the iconic function of ideographs by explaining how "family" provides a specific image and ideal model for the community. This study argues that the New Christian Right, molded around an evangelical Christian theology of the traditional family, constructed a family crisis based upon an idyllic image and a romantic narrative. The fight to save the traditional family involved returning to the theological value of personal responsibility and the political value of local control.
