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4 - The Religious Struggle

Vouchers and the Church–State Question

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2020

Ursula Hackett
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway, University of London
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Summary

Secularist forces in America’s religious struggle believe that church and state should be separated as completely as possible, while their accommodationist opponents believe the state should encourage religious activity. As the accommodationist order in America’s religious struggle gave way to secularist forces during the period of church–state activism by the Warren and Burger Courts (1953–86) on issues such as school prayer, evolution, and religious exemptions, accommodationists sought refuge in weakly attenuated voucher programs. This chapter shows how accommodationists came to rely upon a child benefit theory defense in court that emphasized the benefits to the child, rather than to the school. Accommodationists saw the rise of judicial secularism as a threat to their interests. Indirect benefits channeled through parents seemed to help insulate the state from secularist opposition. But most quasi-direct vouchers of the latter half of the twentieth century were struck down as unconstitutional because they entangled the state with religious purposes.

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Chapter
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America's Voucher Politics
How Elites Learned to Hide the State
, pp. 79 - 107
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • The Religious Struggle
  • Ursula Hackett, Royal Holloway, University of London
  • Book: America's Voucher Politics
  • Online publication: 20 April 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868594.005
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  • The Religious Struggle
  • Ursula Hackett, Royal Holloway, University of London
  • Book: America's Voucher Politics
  • Online publication: 20 April 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868594.005
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Religious Struggle
  • Ursula Hackett, Royal Holloway, University of London
  • Book: America's Voucher Politics
  • Online publication: 20 April 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868594.005
Available formats
×