Political scientist and award-winning author David Campbell will share his research on the role of religion in American politics during a presentation today.
The free event will be at 6 p.m. at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service in Pugh Hall. It will also be streamed live at www.bobgrahamcenter.ufl.edu.
Campbell, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame, will address the general public with his lecture, “Why Religion Still Matters in American Politics.”
Digital/Communications Director for the Graham Center Shelby Taylor said Campbell’s address will explain that understanding how the changing religious demographics in the U.S. could ultimately impact policy decisions.
“Religion still matters in American politics and has both positively and negatively influenced U.S. policy,” she said. “America is deeply religious — religiously diverse and remarkably tolerant. But in recent decades, the nation’s religious landscape has been reshaped.”
UF political science professor Kenneth D. Wald agrees. He said religion has become an extremely important part of the American political process during the last 20 years. He also believes Campbell is going to discuss the Republican Party’s loss of support among young voters due to their positions on issues like contraception, abortion and gay rights.
“I think that if you want to have a good sense of both what happened last November and what’s likely going to continue to happen, that this would be a great way to get informed about it,” he said.
Wald has heard Campbell speak many times and knows he is successful at addressing an audience at an accessible level.
“You will hear from one of the best-informed and brightest scholars on the role in which religion impacts politics,” Wald said. “This is a chance to hear from somebody who really knows the topic. Particularly with the question of how Mormonism came across in the election and the effect it had, there’s nobody in the world who knows as much as David Campbell.”
