The Jurisprudential Revolution in American Church–State Relations: The Case of Education
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-20-2026
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Policy History
Abstract
Our thesis is that the degree of permissible interaction between government and religion and its policy implications is most strikingly documented in the educational arena. To support our claim, we make three arguments: (1) by the early 1970s, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and other states were experimenting with accommodationist policies in education that neither increased religious divisiveness nor denied religious freedom. These policy experiments contributed to the Supreme Court’s new understanding of religious accommodation under the First Amendment; (2) beginning in the late 1970s, a scholarly reappraisal of the establishment clause—based on a close reading of the debates over the First Amendment in Congress and the states—was demonstrating that reasonable governmental accommodations, particularly in education, would not violate the establishment clause; and (3) that periodizing the establishment clause’s history, by focusing on state-level innovations and scholarly reinterpretations, enhances the understanding of the policy developments of the First Amendment, particularly in the educational field.
DOI
10.1017/S0898030625100493
MSU Digital Commons Citation
DeMaio, Gerald and Federman, Cary, "The Jurisprudential Revolution in American Church–State Relations: The Case of Education" (2026). Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 233.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/justice-studies-facpubs/233
Published Citation
DeMaio, G., & Federman, C. (2026). The Jurisprudential Revolution in American Church–State Relations: The Case of Education. Journal of Policy History, 38(1), 1–26. doi:10.1017/S0898030625100493