Religion American Politics

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

America has been described as a nation with the soul of a church. This course will explore the many ways in which religion and politics interact in the United States. One series of classes focuses on the political leanings of adherents to America’s religion traditions (including but not limited to Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and three strains of Protestantism in the evangelical churches, the African-American churches and the mainline churches) and the history of the engagement of these groups. Other classes focus on particular issues including the rise of religious conservatism and the reemergence of a religious left; the role of religious groups in the movements for social justice and civil rights; the role of faith-based organizations in social policy; arguments over the meaning of the First Amendment’s guarantees of religious freedom; and the specific electoral role of religious groups and why different kinds of moral issues mobilize and motivate different parts of the religious community. This course has been renumbered, effective Fall 2014. A student who earned credit for GOVT 356 Religion and Politics in a prior term should not enroll and cannot earn credit in this class.