Religion Returns to the Public Square

Hugh Heclo is Robinson Professor of Public Affairs at George Mason University. Wilfred M. McClay is SunTrust Chair of Excellence in the Humanities and Professor of History at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Both are former Fellows of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

• Part I The Big Picture: An Introduction to Religion and Public Policy, Hugh Heclo; Two Concepts of Secularism, Wilfred M. McClay; The Religious Conscience and the State in American Constitutional Law, 1789-2000, Charles J. Reid, Jr; What is a Public Religion?, Jose Casanova. Part II Religion in Political Action: Faith and Morals - Religion in American Democracy, Wilson Carey McWilliams; Faith in Politics, A. James Reichley; Mainstream Protestantism, "Conservative" Religion, and Civil Society, D.G. Hart. Part III Policy Applications: American Catholicism, Catholic Charities USA, and Welfare Reform, John A. Coleman, S.J.; Charitable Choice - Bringing Religion Back into American Welfare, Stanley W. Carlson-Thies; Public Education Changes Partners, Charles Glenn; With God on Their Side - Religion and American Foreign Policy, William Martin.

The authors span the political and religious spectrum . . . This well-documented collection demonstrates that a secular state can thrive even when its citizenry is deeply committed religiously, albeit to diverse ways of being religious. This book will be valuable to those interested in the role of religion in public life, in both historical and contemporary terms.—Choice