As a political commentator of the Washington Post, researcher at the Brookings Institution and Professor at Georgetown University, E.J. Dionne Jr. is a close watcher of American society. In his Nexus Masterclass Faith in American Politics, he enters into a debate with students on fundamental political questions. How vital is democracy in the United States and in Europe, the Netherlands first of all? Does a debate on values in politics contribute to the strength of democracy, or does it end up undermining its power to act? And what could be the role of religion in this debate?

In his book Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith & Politics After the Religious Right, Dionne shows that the religious and political landscape is changing in the United States. More and more religious Americans distance themselves from the way in which their faith is put to ideological and party political use. At the same time, a large number of non-religious inhabitants of the US discover they share the ideas of the religious when it comes to important issues such as social justice, peace and the environment. Where do American politics and religion meet, in the year of the US Presidential Election? And what about faith in Dutch politics, on the day our nation casts its votes?