A thorough discussion of historical origins of religion in political life, constitutional matters, public opinion, and the most relevant groups, all while taking theology seriously. Revisions include fully updating all the public opinion data, fuller incorporation of voting behavior among different religious and demographic groups, enhanced discussion of minority religions such as Mormonism and Islam, and new examples throughout.
There is a complex relationship between religiosity and secularism in the American experience. America is notable both for its strict institutional separation of church and state, and for the strong role that religion has played in its major social movements and ongoing political life. This book seeks to illuminate for readers the dynamics underlying this seeming paradox, and to examine how the various religious groups in America have approached and continue to approach the tensions between sacred and secular. This much-anticipated revision brings Corbett and Corbett's classic text fully up to date. The second edition continues with a thorough discussion of historical origins of religion in political life, constitutional matters, public opinion, and the most relevant groups, all while taking theology seriously. Revisions include fully updating all the public opinion data, fuller incorporation of voting behavior among different religious and demographic groups, enhanced discussion of minority religions such as Mormonism and Islam, and new examples throughout.
Political science is in same time old and young science. Old, if we have in mind politics as subject of research, and young if we think about institutions in which politics is only subject of research or education. Having in mind religion as subject of political science research, we can easily conclude that all books in early history of mankind, which were dedicated to political topics, had for the first subject religion. That is clear if we remember that first forms of political organizations in old Babylon, Egypt and Israel are inseparable connected with gods. Gods gave legitimacy to those states. But so political science institutions in generally so political sciences of religions, or politologie des religions in French, was born late. The first subjects of research in political sciences institutions were: state, political regimes, political parties, theory of politics, political systems, etc. Religion was studied very rarely. Modern political science was born under influence of French intellectuals: Diderot, Rousseau, Voltaire etc. They considered that religion will disappear with education and development. Their compatriot Alexis de Tocqueville thought contrary to their prognosis. The time gave right to Tocqueville. In the second part of XX century when the world development was the highest, religion maintained its position in big part of globe and became stronger in a lot of states. That created big challenge for political science. Many of political scientists started with research concerning influence of religion into politics. That create, as the first step, centres for research of relations among religion and politics as is labaratoire RELIGION ET POLITIQUE at Institute d'etudes politiques in Paris or l'Observatoire du Religieux at Institut d'etudes politique in Aix EN Provence en Frence, and finally that created special scientific discipline among political sciences which name is Religion and politics, Political Science if Religion, Politologie of Religion or Politologie des religions in French. Politologia della religione in italien or Religionspolitologie in German.Key words: Religion, Politics, Political Science, Development, Lecturing
The paper looks at the historical and contemporary role of Catholic Church in Italian politics. Over the last sixty years Catholicism has played an important role in Italian society. The paper identify three ways in which Catholicism interacts with Italian public life: as a peculiar version of "civil religion", through Catholic inspirited political parties and the Church intervening directly in specific public debates. After identifies the change of political role of the Catholic Church in the last decades the paper recognize the main challenges for this particular relationship in the next future
The encounter between the human mind and the outside world is the essence of speculation. The dramatic element in the encounter has been provided by man's assertion that mind is capable of comprehending and ordering the world about him. This same "epistemological presumptuousness," which we associate instinctively with the spectacular successes of the natural sciences, has also been implicit in the enterprise of political theory. Here, too, the claim is that the human intellect can understand all of the complex interrelationships of a political order. In some ways this claim is even more assertive than that of the natural scientist. The theorist seeks not only to analyze and explain certain phenomena, but to prescribe more satisfactory patterns.Given the complexity of the subject matter of politics and the finite character of the human mind, it is not surprising that the ideas of political theorists lend themselves to diverse interpretations at the hands of later commentators. Disagreement in interpretation, however, can take one of two forms: it may turn on a question concerning a particular idea, meaning, or emphasis; or it may find the interpreters taking diametrically opposed positions concerning the basic tendency of a given set of political ideas.
