Joseph B. Tamney is Professor of Sociology at Ball State University. He is the author of Religious Switching: A Study of Religious Mobility in Singapore, and coeditor of The Political Role of Religion in the U. S.

This book develops a theoretical framework for understanding the popularity of religion in its particular social contexts. The author provides analyses of examples of "religious renaissance," such as the relation of the Catholic Church to Poland's Solidarity Movement, and the counterculture and Protestant theology. He appraises the appeal of the Christian Right in contemporary American culture and the relationship between the Political Right and the Christian Right.