The Winding Path: Religion’s Transformative Role in American Politics and Society

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Shernica L. Ferguson
March 31, 2025

The religious contours of American politics have undergone dramatic shifts in recent decades, transforming both parties and reshaping public discourse. Historically, we have witnessed the shift through the transformation of text such as Max Weber’s “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1958).” In his text (para 2., pg. 27) he noted that religious “ideas” profoundly affected economics through the rational ethics of ascetic Protestantism. He later concluded that religions were important in social stratification and causal relationships and that differences in religion coincided with nationality and cultural development. Therefore, according to Weber, religious affiliation has a free hand in altering the social distribution of the population in accordance with its needs to determine the occupational structure. Could the latter also have a detrimental effect on political parties and governmental identities?

Indeed, Weber’s analysis appears remarkably prescient when viewed through the lens of contemporary American political realignment. The PRRI data (pictured below) reveals statistical variations and a fundamental restructuring of how religious identity shapes political affiliation. Weber’s connection between religious ethics and economic arrangements extends visibly into the political sphere, where we see religious affiliation functioning as both cause and effect of partisan sorting. A public policy scholar or practitioner might ask: “How does the church play a role in politics?” To address this question adequately, we must first examine the foundational principle of American governance: the separation of church and state.

This principle originated with Roger Williams, a Puritan minister who founded Rhode Island. Williams advocated for a “wall of separation” between religious and governmental institutions, believing this boundary would shield the church from government corruption while preserving authentic spiritual practice (Hall & Hall, 1998). Thomas Jefferson later popularized this concept in his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, where he sought to reassure religious minorities that their freedom of belief would remain protected from government interference (Dreisbach, 2002). This separation aligns with Max Weber’s observations about religious reformation. As Weber noted, the Protestant Reformation did not eliminate religious influence on daily life but instead transformed it—rejecting the previously inconsistent religious authority that had permeated all aspects of private and public affairs (para 2, pg. 36). Instead, it established a more defined relationship between religious conviction and civic engagement. The principle of separation, however, is paradoxical.  It has never meant the absence of religious influence in politics; rather, it is a framework where religious institutions maintain their voice in public discourse without directly controlling governmental functions. This arrangement suggests the persistent influence of religious perspectives in American political life, as evidenced by the clear patterns of religious affiliation across political parties shown in the PRRI data (2020).

Consider the stark divide: the Republican Party has effectively consolidated its position as the political home for White evangelical Protestants (29%), with nearly a third of its adherents identifying with this tradition. This marriage of convenience between religious conservatives and Republican politics has created a powerful voting bloc, but one that faces demographic headwinds as its most substantial support comes from older Americans.  Meanwhile, Democrats face their balancing act—navigating between a substantial base of Christians of color (32%) who often hold traditional views on social issues while simultaneously representing the growing unaffiliated constituency. This tension could explore more of the party’s internal debates on issues where religious and progressive values sometimes clash. So where does political sovereignty belong and how much shall we consider? In Weber’s view, Protestants and Catholics possessed ecclesiastical control (para. 2, pg. 37) in positions of ownership and management, which are contemporary economic positions today.

The question of political sovereignty amid competing religious and secular values lies at the heart of contemporary partisan tensions. Weber’s observation about ecclesiastical control (para. 2, pg. 37) extending to economic positions provides a crucial framework for understanding today’s political dynamics, particularly when examining the resurgence of power dynamics in parties in terms of religion. Based on his ideology, the identification of religious influence in ownership and management has evolved into a more complex interplay between faith traditions and political power structures in modern America resulting in the triad of religion, politics and “societal influence.”

This Weberian lens helps us understand how religious authority has transformed from primarily economic influence to political power. The Trump Administration’s new “Faith Office” prioritizing faith leaders with expertise in “combating anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and additional forms of anti-religious bias” (Jenkins, 2025). The office’s mandate to work with the attorney general to “identify concerns raised by faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship about any failures of the executive branch to enforce constitutional and Federal statutory protections for religious liberty” demonstrates how religious authority now operates within formal government structures (Jenkins, 2025). What’s particularly striking, and what Weber might not have anticipated, is how these divisions have hardened during recent years. Rather than finding common ground, religious and political identities have become increasingly fused, with faith functioning less as a moral compass that transcends partisanship and more as a tribal marker that reinforces it. This represents a new manifestation of Weber’s insights on religious authority, where denominational influence no longer merely shapes economic positions but fundamentally structures political identity.

Public administrators now operate in an environment where policy decisions are filtered through these religious-political lenses. Health policies, education initiatives, immigration reforms, and environmental regulations have all become battlegrounds where competing religious worldviews clash. The relatively neutral public servant of previous decades must now navigate waters churned by fundamental disagreements about the proper role of faith in civic life. These experiences exacerbate the tension between their traditions and contemporary policy environments in distinct ways, further complicating the religious-political landscape and presenting challenges for governance and social cohesion. When Americans increasingly inhabit separate religious universes with their information sources, epistemic frameworks, and moral authorities, finding consensus becomes exponentially more difficult. The data doesn’t merely show different religious preferences—it reveals fundamentally different conceptualizations of America and its founding principles.

This “winding path” requires leadership to speak meaningfully across these divides without reducing complex theological traditions to political talking points. It demands recognition that religious and secular Americans must have a voice in shaping our common life while ensuring that fundamental rights remain protected. Perhaps most challenging, it requires us to rediscover shared civic values that transcend the tribal identities that have come to dominate our politics while still honoring the genuine diversity of moral and religious commitments that enrich American society.

The PRRI data doesn’t just tell us who believes what—it maps the contours of a divided nation searching for common ground in an age of fragmentation. How we navigate these divisions may determine whether we can forge a cohesive national identity in the years ahead.

References:

Dreisbach, D. (2002). Thomas Jefferson and the wall of separation between church and state. NYU Press.

Hall, T. L., & Hall, T. (1998). Separating church and state: Roger Williams and religious liberty. University of Illinois Press.

Jenkins, Jack (2025). Trump reestablishes White House Faith Office, places Paula White-Cain in charge.

PRRI (2020) American Values Survey. DOI. 10.17605/OSF.IO/8RH32. Citation. Jones, R. P., Jackson, N., Orces, D., & Huff, I. (2025, February 24).

Weber, M. (1958). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Scribner/Simon & Schuster.

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Author: Shernica L. Ferguson, MS, MPH, ABD. I am a native of the Mississippi Delta, currently pursuing my doctoral degree as a Ph.D. candidate at Jackson State University, in Public Policy and Administration. I have received numerous accolades in recognition of my academic excellence and was selected for the prestigious “Elevating the Experience: The Graduate Student Success Series” program by the Division of Graduate Studies at Jackson State University. I am also a recipient of the BeyGood Foundation award and the Alpha Kappa Mu National Award. My scholarly work earned me the Best White Paper Award at the Conference of Minority Public Administrators in 2025. I maintain membership in distinguished honor societies, including Phi Kappa Phi, Alpha Kappa Mu, Alpha Pi Alpha, and Omicron Delta Kappa. Beyond my professional endeavors, I appreciate jazz and classical music and explore diverse cultures. I aspire to study international charitable organizations and economic policies abroad. I live by the guiding principle “chance favors the prepared mind,” reflecting my approach to academic pursuits and social advocacy initiatives. 

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