Last week, the GOP held its National Convention. This week, the Democratic Party will have its turn. And with the presidential campaign now in full gear, American politics --- and the two-party system at the heart of those politics --- is now, more or less, on just about everyone's mind. On this edition of ST, we speak with Eldon Eisenach, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at The University of Tulsa, whose new book is called "Sacred Discourse and American Nationality." This book traces the development of America's political landscape --- and especially how both religious rhetoric and progressive thinking have influenced that development. It's a work that looks at the politics of today as well as those of yesteryear in order to explore the interrelationship of political theory, ideology, and identity. Eisenach basically argues that Republicans have benefited far more than Democrats --- at every phase in our country's history --- from the notion of nationalism, and that today's liberal Democrats have done a fairly inept if not disastrous job of deploying the main facets of early-20th-century progressivism.
"Sacred Discourse and American Nationality"
