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« In God we trust ! », Pierre Mélandri. Why and how has religion made such a comeback in American politics in the 1980s ? Who broke the dream of a « secular humanism » and of a religion of intimacy better suited to a modern America ? The author has followed the history of a paradox which was also a gamble of the New World : where can one find this unfindable philosophy of public good which would reconcile the attachment to the pluralism of liberty and the aspiration to a national identity, if not in religion ? The United States is indeed « the nation with the soul of a Church » (S. Mead).

The religious right, Claude-Jean Bertrand In the United States believers can be categorized as pre- and post- millenarists. Among the former — conservative, even reactionary — the evangelicals are the most numerous. A minority, fervent and nostalgie for the original theocracy, followers of the biblical rules, regained popularity in the 1950s and again in the 1970s, thanks to the use of mass media. After the surge of the Reagan'era and the fleeting rise of the Moral Majority — a movement more symbolic than representative of the new Christian right — this minority now seems in a downward phase.

The black churches and their clergy, Nicole Bernheim. In addition to having the same color of shin, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Louis Farrakhan and Jesse Jackson also share a decisive similarity : the very close association linking their struggle for racial equality and their discourse, strongly marked by religion. Through the portrait of these major charismatic figures, the author analyzes the central place which the Churches held in the Black movement in the US, particularly by training then and by offering them a means of expression. But this « time of the reverends » may be drawing to a close.

New religious movements and conflicts of society (1965-1685), Françoise Champion Already well-known for its diversity, the American religious landscape has been enriched since the 1960s by the proliferation of that complex phenomenon, the « new religious movements ». Revelatory of the questioning and the unease of the American society, these movements pose many questions : What needs do they answer ? How much continuity and how much rupture do they represent in relation to American traditions ? To what extent do they challenge the idea of a progressive secularization of individual and collective behavior ? Through a wide survey of sociological research, the author provides elements of response and paths for further reflexion.

The Catholics and the New Deal, Claude Fohlen. After the First World War, the American Catholics, mostly recent immigrants, were objects of suspicion in public life. The Protestants feared « Papist » interference in American affairs should Catholics be strongly represented in the federal administration. Poorly integrated, the Catholics had a hard time finding their place in the political arena. This explains the failure of the candidacy of the Democratic Governor of New York to the Presidency in 1928. As of 1932, the Catholics were to join massively the Democratic Party. They contributed to Franklin Roosevelt's victory, making the New Deal years those of the acceptance of Catholics in American society.

Jews and politics, André Kaspi. The Jewish lobby is often mentioned in the United States. The « power of the Jews » is however exaggerated neither through inadvertence nor through ignorance. On one hand, they represent one of several mino-rities. On the other, while they do have a homogeneous political behavior (their vote is traditionally Democratie), their influence has rarely been decisive. Their gradual but spectacular Americanization causes fear and admiration : their harshest opponent are to be found within the minority which has not succeeded to become part of the American way of life.

The Supreme Court and the separation of Church and State, Yves-Henri Novailhat The first amendment to the American Constitution guaranteed the free exercise of religion but refused an established one. The Supreme Court has had to follow for two centuries the father twisting path of the errors of interpretation of this original rule. For there has been conflict concerning both the « free exercise » of religion and its « es tablishment », especially in the fields of education and taxation. Over the past 30 years, the Court has been playing a relatively new role of purification of the abuses of the American social and political System, but without the slightest possibility of a constitutional reform on the separation of Churche and State.