ABSTRACT
New political relationships are most easily recognized in dramatic events, such as wars, depressions and landslide elections, but evidence of new developments also appears in routine politics. The United States is moving away from the ethnocultural foundations of political alignments, based on conflict between religious traditions, toward a more European pattern, in which conservative parties draw heavily from religious groups and leaders, while parties of the left are supported by more secular forces. And both the growth of various groups, and the continued effects of modernization on their religious character, will expand or contract their role in party coalitions. If present trends continue, however, this new connection between the Bible and the ballot box will characterize politics. Secularism appealed to many people with only nominal religious attachments, to whom matters were of little consequence except as impediments to their other interests. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book.
