The thesis of his essay is that disagreements about the appropriate role of religion in American politics result from disagreement about the general nature of democratic politics. Symbolically, “democracy” is a warm, positive entity, which officially has no enemies. Nevertheless, the essential characteristics of democratic government remain elusive and controversial. My purpose here is to survey a range of possibilities, and to suggest that the roles of religion in democratic t

heories are as varied and nuanced as democratic theories themselves.

A central theme of his analysis is that democratic politics ultimately has a cultural basis. While some would identify “democracy” with characteristic institutional features, such as elections, legal opposition political parties, or a free press, much history has suggested that such “democratic” institutions do not necessarily travel well, and that democratic political cultures may precede, rather than follow, democratic governmental forms. The broad outlines of the consensus multiple traditions in American political theory are, of course, well known. Lacking either a peasantry or aristocracy, the United States has never been characterized in its history by enduring, carefully rationalized, social divisions. United States history lacks a feudal multiple tradition, as contemporary American politics lacks an authentically socialist voice. Given an abundance of land on which one could literally “start over”, divisions of class or status seemed temporary, or incidental. A myth of social mobility has served to prevent the exacerbation of status differences in this culture. Class politics in the United States have generally been emulative, rather than redistributive. The United States, uniquely among Western nations, could be characterized by a lack of principled disagreement over fundamental principles of humanity or citizenship. While conflicts clearly occur in American politics, the consensus multiple tradition involves the claim that political conflict in the United States takes place within relatively clearly defined boundaries, and that the rules governing political disputes are not the subject of partisan debate.

Roger Smith further defines that Colonial America began as an offspring of the English patriarchal government. The first settlers could not imagine a society that could be both self sufficient and independent from English control. The colonists simply accepted its role on the bottom of the social and political hierarchy. They relied on their intense work ethic and their desire to practice their own newl

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