Christianity and American Democracy

by Heclo, Theda Skocpol (Foreword), Mary Jo Bane (Contributor)

Christianity, not religion in general, has been important for American democracy. With this bold thesis, Hugh Heclo offers a panoramic view of how Christianity and democracy have shaped each other.

Heclo shows that amid deeply felt religious differences, a Protestant colonial society gradually convinced itself of the truly Christian reasons for, as well as the enlightened political advantages of, religious liberty. By the mid-twentieth century, American democracy and Christianity appeared locked in a mutual embrace. But it was a problematic union vulnerable to fundamental challenge in the Sixties. Despite the subsequent rise of the religious right and glib talk of a conservative Republican theocracy, Heclo sees a longer-term, reciprocal estrangement between Christianity and American democracy.

Responding to his challenging argument, Mary Jo Bane, Michael Kazin, and Alan Wolfe criticize, qualify, and amend it. Heclo’s rejoinder suggests why both secularists and Christians should worry about a coming rupture between the Christian and democratic faiths. The result is a lively debate about a momentous tension in American public life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Political Science, History

312 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

Reviews

[Russell Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helco's long essay on Christianity--actually mostly various types of Protestantism--and American democracy is a wonderful work of historical investigation and intellectual investigation. Based on a series of lectures he gave, centering on the work of Alexis de Tocqueville, Helco's broad thesis is that, soon after the first Great Awakening in American life (usually associated with the 1750s through the 1770s), the different Christian denominations of early America arrived at a point there they nearly all were in theological agreement regarding the relationship between religion and self-government: namely, that it was simply un-Christian to judge too harshly the particular beliefs of other Christians. This level of intra-Christian tolerance (which, again, was mostly Protestant, involving Quakers, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and more, but with Catholics being occasionally allowed in as well) came, over time, according to Helco, to contribute to notions of the human person, notions of human history, and notions of political life that became entwined with American democracy. He calls this long era of America's Christian civil religion the "Great Denouement," and thinks its legacy lasted until the rise of secularism in the 1960s. Since that powerful challenge, the fate of both democracy and Christianity in America--most particularly manifest by looking at changes in both American churches and American political parties--is, in Helco's opinion, in serious doubt.

I appreciated the criticisms of Helco's story presented by multiple scholars, particularly that which was provided by Michael Kazin, who pointed out the degree to which Helco's story privileges consensus over conflict. But really, the book stands or falls in value on the basis of Helco's tour de force, and I personally found it enormously insightful, pointing to many distinct phenomena in American life and showing how the evolutions of American Christianity linked them together. Helco takes us from the early Puritans to the political speeches of then-Senator Barack Obama (the book was published in 2006), and while much is left out, that which is included made good sense to me. I look forward to using the book in an upcoming class of mine this semester.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Christianity and American Democracy" by Hugh Heclo was a influential read on the understanding religion in America. Heclo examines the role of Christianity and the its changing influence in the American experiment. Overall, a very good read.