Religious right in the United States

The words theoconservatism and theocon are portmanteaus of "theocracy" and "conservatism"/"conservative" coined as variants of "neoconservatism" and "neocon". They have been used as labels, sometimes pejorative, referring to members of the Christian right, particularly those whose ideology represents a synthesis of elements of American conservatism, conservative Christianity, and social conservatism, expressed through political means. The term theocon first appeared in 1996 in an article in The New Republic entitled "Neocon v. Theocon" by Jacob Heilbrunn, where he wrote:

Mainstream media have used the terms to identify religious conservatives. Journalist Andrew Sullivan has commonly used the concept, as have political cartoonists Cox & Forkum in reference to former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris.