Law, Religion, and Public Policy: A Commentary on First Amendment Jurisprudence

Law, Religion, and Public Policy provides a timely examination of the impact of First Amendment jurisprudence about religion on American public policy. It offers historical and analytical insight into two centuries of judicial thinking on the meaning of the First Amendment and explores the prevailing religious freedom theories used by the judiciary to interpret the Constitution's religious clauses. Through studies of education and welfare policy, Julia Stronks reveals the continuing struggle to separate belief systems and government decision-making. This work is a superb addition to the discussion of the legal profession's understanding of religious beliefs and the ever shifting balance between faith and politics in a liberal democracy.

Julia K. Stronks is Associate Professor of Political and International Studies at Whitworth College. She is the coauthor of Such a Cloud of Witnesses: When Christians Teach in Public Schools (1998).