The author provides an overview of religious politics in the contemporary United States. Possible answers are proposed to three questions: Why are Americans more religious than citizens of other Western democracies?; Why does religiously-motivated political activity seem such a frequent feature of politics in the United States?; Why is the effect of religiously-based political activity on public policy in the United States so limited? The answers given to these three questions suggest that American political religion plays a “prophetic” role of social critic in the United States.
French
L'auteur donne un aperçu des interactions entre la religion et la politique dans la société américaine contemporaine. Il propose des réponses possibles à trois questions: pourquoi les Américains sont-ils plus pratiquants que les citoyens des autres démocraties occidentales? Pourquoi les activités politiques fondées sur des motivations religieuses sont-elles une caractéristique si fréquente de la politique américaine? Pourquoi l'effet de ces activités sur la politique publique est-il si limité? Les éléments de réponse à ces trois questions semblent indiquer qu'aux Etats-Unis, la 'religion politique' joue un rôle 'prophétique' de critique sociale.
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