Religion And Politics in the United States

by Wald, Kenneth D.; Calhoun-brown, Allison

• ISBN13: 9780742540415
• ISBN10: 0742540413
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-07-01
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc

Summary

Religion and Politics in the United States, Fifth Edition, offers a comprehensive account of the role of religious ideas, institutions, and communities in American public life.

Author Biography

Kenneth D. Wald is Distinguished Professor of political science at the University of Florida, Gainesville Allison Calhoun-Brown is associate professor of political science at Georgia State University in Atlanta

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	ix
Preface	xi
1 A Secular Society	1	(23)
The Puzzle of Religious Vitality	4	(4)
The Persistence of Religion	8	(5)
Stability or Change?	13	(3)
Possible Explanations	16	(3)
Why the United States?	19	(5)
2 Religion in the American Context	24	(15)
Understanding Religion	25	(2)
Patterns of Religious Affiliation	27	(5)
Basic Political Tendencies	32	(7)
3 Religion and American Political Culture	39	(26)
The Puritan Imprint on Colonial Thought	40	(3)
Covenant Theology and the Right to Revolt	43	(3)
Puritanism and Democracy: A Qualification	46	(2)
"Total Depravity" and Institutional Restraint	48	(6)
One Nation under God: A Civil Religion	54	(5)
Civil Religion as a Double-Edged Sword	59	(2)
One of Many Influences	61	(4)
4 Religion and the State	65	(44)
The Genesis of Church-State Conflict	66	(3)
Overview of Church-State Relations	69	(7)
How Far Can Government Go?	76	(5)
The Judicial Record	81	(6)
The Separationist Period	87	(8)
The Accomodationist Era	95	(5)
The Politics of Church-State Relations	100	(4)
The Constitutional Revolution in Perspective	104	(5)
5 Mobilizing Religious Interests	109	(34)
Studying Religious Interests	110	(2)
Establishing Motive	112	(17)
Establishing Means	129	(14)
6 Religion and Political Action	143	(40)
Religious Cultural Environment	145	(4)
Institutional Contexts	149	(6)
Partisan Political Alignments	155	(3)
Influential Allies	158	(7)
Policy Domain	165	(18)
7 Religion and Public Opinion	183	(23)
Economic Liberalism	184	(3)
Moral-Cultural Issues	187	(9)
Social Justice	196	(3)
Foreign Policy	199	(2)
What Culture War?	201	(5)
8 The Political Mobilization of Evangelical Protestants	206	(41)
The Political Background	207	(4)
Roots of the "New Christian Right"	211	(3)
Building a National Movement	214	(2)
Evangelical Political Action	216	(1)
Organizational Transformation: The Second Generation	217	(5)
Theories of Evangelical Mobilization	222	(7)
The Impact of the Christian Right	229	(1)
The Consequences for Public Policy	230	(2)
Good Times? The Christian Right and the Bush Administration	232	(1)
The Christian Right as a Mass Movement	233	(14)
9 Continuity and Change in the Religious Center: Catholics, Mainline Protestants, and Jews	247	(36)
Catholicism: Conflicting Political Impulses	249	(1)
The Conservative Political Heritage	250	(3)
The Transformation of Catholic Attitudes	253	(5)
Abortion: The Catholic Response	258	(3)
Is Abortion a Catholic Issue?	261	(6)
The Political Traditions of Mainline Protestants	267	(4)
Mainline Activism: Sources and Reactions	271	(3)
American Jews	274	(9)
10 Religion and the Politics of Ethnic and Religious Minorities	283	(30)
African American Protestants	284	(10)
Latino Catholics and Protestants	294	(6)
Muslim Americans	300	(5)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints	305	(4)
Other Faith Traditions	309	(4)
11 The Other Minorities: Women and Gay People	313	(35)
Women, Religion, and Politics	316	(13)
Homosexuals	329	(2)
Religion and Homosexuality	331	(17)
12 Religion and American Political Life	348	(25)
The Case against Religious Influence in Politics	349	(6)
Assessing the Evidence	355	(6)
The Case for Religion in Politics	361	(9)
Religion in Public Conversation	370	(3)
References	373	(66)
Index	439	(8)
About the Authors	447