This important new volume seeks to provide significant contribution to our understanding of religion and politics, demonstrating through comparisons with other countries the unusually complex nature of the interaction of religion and politics in the United Kingdom. Bruce provides a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the field, covering key topics including: Religion and Violence in Northern Ireland A UK-US comparison of the relationship between the church and the nation state Links between Protestantism and the rise of modern democracy The relationship between Methodism and Socialism The impact that ethnic minority status and religious values have on political alignment This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of religion, politics and religious sociology.