Encyclopedia of Politics+Religion
Robert Wuthnow's Two Vo Update Explores Spirituality and Government
A book review of the updated, wide-ranging Encyclopedia covering politics and religion and the interrelations between them in today's world.
The two-volume Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion edited by the Director for the Study of Religion at Princeton University contains 281 articles explores globalization, contemporary politics in America, worldwide tensions between Christianity and Islam, and the erosion of the idea of the nation-state.
Even though politics and religion are especially difficult to define, but its guiding framework of "examin[ing] the interconnection of politics and religion" helps readers understand how the two "elemental institutions...have combined to shape public discourse, affect social attitudes, spark and sustain collective action, and influence policy, especially in the last two centuries."
A quick look at the Table of Contents, for instance, shows articles on economic development, Vaclav Havel, Ibn Tainuyya, nativism, and witchcraft. "Communication," for instance, by Paul and Lyman Kellstedt of Brown and Wheaton universities is relevant because, "The importance of both formal and informal sources of religious communication is growing in the United States in the first part of the twenty-first century." Later in the article, the co-authors raise and answer the question, "What are the sources of communication that affect political behavior?"
The numerous articles' cross reference bibliographies of books published in the 1990s or later offer timeliness, scope, and authoritativeness.
Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion, Second Edition, Volumes I and II, edited by Robert Wuthnow. Washington, D. C.: CQPress/Division of Congressional Quarterly, 2007. $275.00 hardcover, 8-1/2" x 11", ISBN 0-887289-323-5. maps, illustrations, section bibliographies, indexes.
