This book examines what makes the United States an exceptional society, what impact it has had abroad, and why these issues have mattered to Americans. With historical and comparative evidence, Frank J. Lechner describes the distinctive path of American institutions and tracks changes in the country’s national identity in order to assess claims about America’s ‘exceptional’ qualities. The book analyzes several focal points of exceptionalist thinking about America, including the importance of US Constitution and the American sense of mission, and explores several aspects of America’s distinctive global impact; for example, in economics and film. In addition to discussing the distinctive global impact of the US, this first volume delves into religion, law, and sports. Preface 6 Contents 9 List of Abbreviations 11 List of Tables 12 Chapter 1: Introduction 13 1.1 Identifying the American Exception 15 1.2 Questioning the American Exception 20 1.3 Studying the American Exception 24 1.4 Agenda 29 References 31 Chapter 2: “A Shining City”? Perspectives on the American Exception 34 2.1 Americans and the American Exception 36 2.1.1 Americans on “America” 38 2.1.2 Taking Exception 46 2.2 Tocqueville and the American Exception 48 2.2.1 Tocqueville in America 49 2.2.2 Tocqueville on America 51 2.2.3 Tocqueville and America 57 2.3 Socialism and the American Exception 61 2.3.1 The No-Socialism Exception 62 2.3.2 Explaining the American Exception 64 2.3.3 Rethinking the American Exception 66 2.4 Anti-Americanism and the American Exception 70 2.4.1 Exceptional Perceptions 72 2.4.2 Explaining Anti-Americanism 76 2.4.3 Anti-Americanism and America 79 References 81 Chapter 3: “A Sea of Faith”: The American Religious Exception 87 3.1 Megachurches and the American Religious Exception 88 3.1.1 Megachurches as Models 89 3.1.2 Megachurches in American Society 94 3.2 Evangelicalism and the American Religious Exception 97 3.2.1 The Methodist Mold 98 3.2.2 Vital Faith 101 3.2.3 Secular Strains 106 3.3 Civil Religion and American Identity 111 3.3.1 A Nation with the Soul of a Church 113 3.3.2 Broken Covenant? 121 3.4 Exporting America’s God 124 3.4.1 Exporting the American Gospel 128 3.4.2 Spiritual Recycling 132 References 135 Chapter 4: “Equal Justice under Law”: The American Legal Exception 142 4.1 Capital Punishment and the American Legal Exception 143 4.1.1 Georgia in the Supreme Court 145 4.1.2 Explaining the Exception 149 4.2 Adversarial Legalism and the American Legal Exception 151 4.2.1 Adversarial Legalism 153 4.2.2 The Rights Revolution 157 4.2.3 Toward Convergence? 161 4.3 The Constitution and American Identity 169 4.3.1 The Exceptional Constitution 171 4.3.2 The Living Constitution 175 4.3.3 Beyond the Constitution 177 4.4 The U.S. in International Law 181 4.4.1 The U.S. as Ambivalent Architect 183 4.4.2 Explaining the Exception 187 References 191 Legal Cases Cited 196 U.S. Supreme Court 196 Other Courts 197 Chapter 5: “Almost an Island unto Itself”: The American Sports Exception 198 5.1 Baseball and the American Sports Exception 199 5.1.1 Baseball as National Pastime 200 5.1.2 How Exceptional? 207 5.2 Football and the American Sports Exception 210 5.2.1 Becoming America’s Game 213 5.2.2 Football as America’s Game 220 5.3 Race, Sports, and American Identity 225 5.3.1 Black Performance and Identity 227 5.3.2 Race and Identity in Sports 232 5.4 America in Global Games 238 5.4.1 Baseball in the World 243 5.4.2 The U.S. in the Global Game 245 References 249 Index 256 Front Matter....Pages i-xv Introduction....Pages 1-21 “A Shining City”? Perspectives on the American Exception....Pages 23-75 “A Sea of Faith”: The American Religious Exception....Pages 77-131 “Equal Justice under Law”: The American Legal Exception....Pages 133-188 “Almost an Island unto Itself”: The American Sports Exception....Pages 189-246 Back Matter....Pages 247-253
