Religion and the Swing Vote

The era of the Religious Right is over, declares Brookings Senior Fellow E.J. Dionne, Jr., in his recent book Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith & Politics after the Religious Right (Princeton University Press, 2008). Dionne claims millions of religious Americans are reclaiming faith, exhausted with a religious style in politics that was excessively dogmatic, partisan and ideological. Fresh religious voices are rising to challenge stereotypical views of faith and find common ground with secular Americans on issues of social justice, peace and the environment.

On February 11, Brookings Senior Fellow William Galston moderated a discussion with Dionne on how swing voters will respond to the changing role of religion in politics. They were joined by Richard Cizik, a top official of the National Association of Evangelicals, who is striving to expand the evangelical agenda to include environmental protection; and by Peter Steinfels, co-director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University and religion columnist for The New York Times.

This event is part of the Governing Ideas series sponsored by Governance Studies at Brookings.