What Newsweek calls "the politics of sex" is a force far greater than campaigns to recognize same-sex marriage, liberalize abortion, or admit women and homosexuals to military combat. These debates represent only the tip of a much larger trend, the full dimensions and implications of which we are only now beginning to comprehend.

Political scientist Stephen Baskerville argues that at issue is nothing less than the emergence of a new political ideology. It derives its claims to political power from neither economic relations nor ethnicity or race, but from the control of sexuality. Until very recently, scholars and journalists were reluctant to analyze this new phenomenon with any depth or detachment, preferring to avert their eyes for fear of the repercussions. But drawing upon a growing body of scholarship and journalism, Baskerville goes behind slogans of left and right to examine its background and highlight the unmistakable trends that are now emerging. His new work is essential to understanding the impact of this ideology not only on the family and other social institutions, but also on the machinery of government, the criminal justice system, and the global political environment.