STATELE UNITE, DE LA WEBSTER LA HUNTINGTON: NAȚIONALISM, RESURGENȚĂ RELIGIOASĂ, POLARIZARE
United States, from Webster to Huntington: Nationalism, Religious Resurgence, Polarization

Summary/Abstract: The upcoming presidential elections of November 2024 brought back into focus a phenomenon that has been manifesting in American society at least since the beginning of the XXIst century – societal polarization. Social scientists have measures. Campaign strategists have lore. The best measures have the indisputable virtues of being precise, objective, and portable – from place to place and election to election. Without pretending to be an exhaustive analysis, this article proposes a brief review of America’s national and religious identity, and of the causes derived from these two variables that have led to the current polarization of society. Participatory observation is the primary source of this parsimonious exposition, while specialized literature and surveys dedicated to the study of identity constitute the basis of secondary sources. The covenant, the creed and the crucible are the recurring symbols by which Americans have tried to make sense of their differences – and their similarities, and most of the arguments of this article are built around these variables.

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