Chains of Persuasion

A Framework for Religion in Democracy

Benjamin R. Hertzberg

Provides a new framework for evaluating religion's place in democratic political life
Analysis brings together insights from democratic theory and critical theories of religion
New critique and contextualization of public reason's implications for religion and politics
Draws on examples from democratic politics in North America and South Asia

Chains of Persuasion

A Framework for Religion in Democracy

Benjamin R. Hertzberg

Description

Democratic politics seems to inspire religious conflict - politicians consistently use religious differences for political gain, while religious nationalism and nationalistic reactions to religious diversity are on the rise in much of the world. And yet predominant theoretical accounts of liberal democracy provide citizens precious little applicable guidance in making judgments about religion's proper role in their political societies.

Chains of Persuasion provides a new moral framework to guide citizens' evaluations of religious politics. Rejecting claims that religion must be relegated to the private sphere or that all attempts to evaluate its political roles are oppressive, Benjamin Hertzberg argues that democratic ideals are robust enough to assess the full range of ways religion influences democratic political life.

Hertzberg's analysis draws on critical theories of religion, philosophical debates about public reason, deliberative and instrumental justifications of democracy, and democratic virtue theory. He argues that citizens must recognize that democracy is a way-of-life, with crucial implications for civic society beyond formal political institutions, in order to attend to the ways in which religion can both enhance and undermine democracy.

He applies this framework by criticizing American public discussions of two prominent religious minorities: Mormons and Muslims. If citizens are to make judgments consistent with democratic norms, they must pay more attention to the nature of religions' authority claims instead of merely evaluating the values religions proclaim.

Chains of Persuasion

A Framework for Religion in Democracy

Benjamin R. Hertzberg

Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Role of Religion in Liberal Democratic Politics
Chapter 1 - From Public Reason to the Democratic Decision-Making Process
Chapter 2 - Chains of Persuasion: A Theory of Religion in Democratic Decision-Making
Chapter 3 - Assessing the Consequences of Religious Inclusion
Chapter 4 - Religious Practices and Democratic Virtues
Conclusion - Mormons and Muslims in American Democracy
Bibliography
Index

Chains of Persuasion

A Framework for Religion in Democracy

Benjamin R. Hertzberg

Author Information

Benjamin R. Hertzberg is Fellow of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. He researches and teaches in the fields of political theory and philosophy and religion and politics.

Chains of Persuasion

A Framework for Religion in Democracy

Benjamin R. Hertzberg

Reviews and Awards

"In this ground-breaking book on the vexed topic of politics and religion, Hertzberg ingeniously revitalizes the specifically democratic impulse of liberal politics. He does so by re-describing both democracy and religion as ways of life between which paths of engagement and collective practices of persuasion can be built. An important book for our troubled, excessively polarized times." -Cécile Laborde, University of Oxford

"As the world grows ever more tightly connected, religious difference seems not to be going away; what should we do about that? Increasingly one hears suspicions regarding whether broadly liberal democratic regimes can successfully manage such difference. Hertzberg's work substantially helps us see why liberal democratic regimes may have more promise than the critics suspect. This book is a landmark in what we can now begin to call, using Hertzberg's terms, 'post-secular liberal political theory.'" -Charles Mathewes, The University of Virginia

"Avoiding public discussion of politics and religion might make for good etiquette, but Hertzberg shows why it makes for bad citizenship. Democratic life requires more than relegating religion to the purely private. Chains of Persuasion provides a blueprint for (and an example of) how we can do better: a fresh, sophisticated, and wise contribution to democratic theory and public discourse itself." -Michael A. Neblo, Director of the Institute for Democratic Engagement & Accountability (IDEA), The Ohio State University