Mormonism and American Politics

It was a welcome treat to read a group of well-organized, well-written, and eminently readable essays from a diversity of distinguished authorial voices that, across the board, maintain a high level of quality. Mormonism and American Politics' nuanced contextualization of Mormonism successfully engages larger issues within U.S. religious history by means of focused, provocative case studies, making it relevant to scholars in a wide range of disciplines. -- Susanna Morrill, Lewis & Clark College This volume offers the best single collection of essays on Mormonism and American politics, a topic that is both rich and deserving of sustained scholarly treatment. -- Patrick Q. Mason, Claremont Graduate University From Joseph Smith's presidential bid and Brigham Young's theodemocracy, to Prop 8 and the Romney campaign of 2012, Mormons have engaged in a complex struggle to reconcile Latter-day Saint exceptionalism with political accommodation and legitimacy. Perhaps no faith tradition in America has been at the center of more church-state conflicts than Mormonism, and this vibrant collection of essays plumbs both past lessons and future prospects. -- Terryl Givens, author of Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought Mormonism and American Politics is the most deft, discerning, and nearly definitive book of essays about Mormons and politics ever published. The authors treat captivating facets of Mormon history-some famous, some unearthed here-with an eye-popping verve that shapes a new vista on both Mormonism and the evolving America in which it emerged. -- Jon Butler, Yale University Charting the shifting alliances and tensions between Mormonism and broader national currents, this volume offers an incisive narrative of the history of religious engagement with electoral politics. As the quintessential "outsider religion," Mormonism has danced on the knife-edge between toleration and rejection, acceptable diversity and illegitimate cult. These evocative essays trace that distinctively American dance and offer important lessons about the promise and perils of religious pluralism. -- Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Washington University The authors of these essays give genuine insight into Mormonism's political present without neglecting the significance of its past. A smart, accessible collection, it is a very good read for the academic and general public. Especially for the classroom, the volume offers an opportunity to discuss America's engagement with religion on such important themes as race, gender, majoritarian politics, religious liberty and its informal, but no less important, public counterpoint, toleration. -- Kathleen Flake, University of Virginia This timely collection integrates multiple perspectives and insights by leading scholars. The importance of Mormonism to American political life is shown here not only as a present phenomenon, but an enduring one across almost two hundred years. -- Sarah Barringer Gordon, University of Pennsylvania The most historically informed and culturally sophisticated analysis of the subject to date... Highly recommended. Choice This is a book that lives up to its blurbs. BYU Studies Quarterly Intelligibly written and academically sound. It makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of an important religious denomination in American culture and politics while simultaneously illuminating the historical interaction and mutual impact of religious and political institutions in a democratic society. The Journal of American History The strengths of this volume is its combination of accessibility and scholarly originality. Journal of Church and State