Few social scientists have attempted to measure religion's influence on the U.S. Congress with the level of precision that William D'Antonio, Steven Tuch and Josiah Baker exercise in their fine new study. . . . In the end, the authors can show persuasively that Congress has polarized and that its members' religious affiliations have shifted away from mainline Protestantism and toward Catholicism and conservative Protestantism.

National Catholic Reporter

Anyone who has ever been interested in how religious affiliation affects decision-making in Congress will find this book a valuable source of information and insight. The authors focus on the last half century (1960-2010), noting how a changing religious demography has shaped the political culture. . . . This book deserves a very wide audience.

Voice of Reason

Readers will get a clear sense of the unique impact of religious affiliations on congressional decision-making in the multivariate regression models.

America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture

There is endless discussion of partisan and ideological polarization and a great deal of talk about the role of religion in American politics. But remarkably, there is not nearly enough work on how polarization and the faith-commitments of our citizens interact. Religion, Politics and Polarization fills that void with enormous care, using data in a creative but rigorous way to illuminate two central questions of our time. And it also helps to explain what is going on inside Congress. D'Antonio, Tuch, and Baker have performed a great service and deserve a wide audience.

E. J. Dionne Jr., syndicated columnist and author of Our Divided Political Heart

Religion, Politics, and Polarization fills a gaping hole in the burgeoning literature on political polarization. Revisiting questions about culture wars raised two decades ago by James Davison Hunter, the authors demonstrate how the changing religious affiliations of members of Congress and their visions of the good society have contributed to the striking increase in partisan polarization in congressional voting behavior. They also persuasively make the case that the public is as deeply implicated as political elites in this most important transformation in contemporary American politics.

Thomas E. Mann, The Brookings Institution

We hear it every day: 'Congress is mired in partisan polarization, gridlocked—dysfunctional.' But how and why? Pundits offer superficial answers, but very few mention religion. This book says otherwise. Using hard data and sound analysis, scholars William D'Antonio, Steven A. Tuch and Josiah R. Baker use 40 years of data to show that 'the political ideologies of both political parties are rooted in religion.' It's a must read for those interested in the future of American politics.

Maureen Fiedler, host of NPR's Interfaith Voices