Religion and Politics in the United States

Front Cover
Rowman & Littlefield, 2007 - Political Science - 445 pages
In this edition, updated to reflect recent events and trends, Wald (political science, U. of Florida, Gainesville) and Calhoun-Brown (political science, Georgia State U., Atlanta) show how religious ideas, institutions, movements and communities figure in American political life. They cover whether the US is in fact a secular society, the relations

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Contents

A Secular Society?
xiii
THE PUZZLE OF RELIGIOUS VITALITY
2
THE PERSISTENCE OF RELIGION
6
STABILITY OR CHANGE?
11
POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS
14
WHY THE UNITED STATES?
17
Religion in the American Context
22
UNDERSTANDING RELIGION
23
FOREIGN POLICY
197
WHAT CULTURE WAR?
199
The Political Mobilization of Evangelical Protestants
204
THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND
205
ROOTS OF THE NEW CHRISTIAN RIGHT
209
BUILDING A NATIONAL MOVEMENT
212
EVANGELICAL POLITICAL ACTION
214
THE SECOND GENERATION
215

PATTERNS OF RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
25
BASIC POLITICAL TENDENCIES
30
Religion and American Political Culture
37
THE PURITAN IMPRINT ON COLONIAL THOUGHT
38
COVENANT THEOLOGY AND THE RIGHT TO REVOLT
41
A QUALIFICATION
44
TOTAL DEPRAVITY AND INSTITUTIONAL RESTRAINT
46
A CIVIL RELIGION
52
CIVIL RELIGION AS A DOUBLEEDGED SWORD
57
ONE OF MANY INFLUENCES
59
Religion and the State
63
THE GENESIS OF CHURCHSTATE CONFLICT
64
OVERVIEW OF CHURCHSTATE RELATIONS
67
HOW FAR CAN GOVERNMENT GO?
73
THE JUDICIAL RECORD
78
THE SEPARATIONIST PERIOD
85
THE ACCOMMODATIONIST ERA
92
THE POLITICS OF CHURCHSTATE RELATIONS
98
THE CONSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTION IN PERSPECTIVE
102
Mobilizing Religious Interests
107
STUDYING RELIGIOUS INTERESTS
108
ESTABLISHING MOTIVE
110
ESTABLISHING MEANS
127
Religion and Political Action
141
RELIGIOUS CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
143
INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXTS
147
PARTISAN POLITICAL ALIGNMENTS
153
INFLUENTIAL ALLIES
156
POLICY DOMAIN
163
Religion and Public Opinion
181
ECONOMIC LIBERALISM
182
MORALCULTURAL ISSUES
185
SOCIAL JUSTICE
194
THEORIES OF EVANGELICAL MOBILIZATION
220
THE IMPACT OF THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT
227
THE CONSEQUENCES FOR PUBLIC POLICY
228
GOOD TIMES? THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT AND THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION
230
THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT AS A MASS MOVEMENT
231
Continuity and Change in the Religious Center Catholics Mainline Protestants and Jews
245
CONFLICTING POLITICAL IMPULSES
247
THE CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL HERITAGE
248
THE TRANSFORMATION OF CATHOLIC ATTITUDES
251
THE CATHOLIC RESPONSE
256
IS ABORTION A CATHOLIC ISSUE?
259
THE POLITICAL TRADITIONS OF MAINLINE PROTESTANTS
265
SOURCES AND REACTIONS
269
AMERICAN JEWS
272
Religion and the Politics of Ethnic and Religious Minorities
281
AFRICAN AMERICAN PROTESTANTS
282
LATINO CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS
292
MUSLIM AMERICANS
298
CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTERDAY SAINTS
303
OTHER FAITH TRADITIONS
307
The Other Minorities Women and Gay People
311
WOMEN RELIGION AND POLITICS
314
HOMOSEXUALS
327
RELIGION AND HOMOSEXUALITY
329
Religion and American Political Life
346
THE CASE AGAINST RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE IN POLITICS
347
ASSESSING THE EVIDENCE
353
THE CASE FOR RELIGION IN POLITICS
359
RELIGION IN PUBLIC CONVERSATION
368
References
371
Index
437
About the Authors
445
Copyright

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