Who Belongs

White Christian Nationalism and the Roberts Court

Stephen M. Feldman

$206

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

New York University Press
20 January 2026

Nationalism; Courts & procedure; Constitutional & administrative law

Examines how Roberts Court decisions have reshaped ""We the People"" to favor a narrow vision of belonging rooted in white Christian nationalism and minority rule

Who belongs to ""We the People""? Are ""the People"" exclusive, inegalitarian, and hierarchical, or inclusive and egalitarian? For much of American history, an exclusionary and inegalitarian republican democracy predominated, but in the 1930s, political forces lifted an egalitarian and participatory pluralist democracy to ascendance. Although a conservative Supreme Court initially resisted this change, the Court acquiesced in 1937 and then subsequently deepened the nation's commitment to pluralist democracy by invigorating constitutional protections for individual rights – religious freedom, free expression, and equal protection. Protection of individual rights facilitated the acceptance of diverse values and the expression of those values in the pluralist democratic arena. Disgruntled with these constitutional developments, conservatives eventually denounced the 1937 transition and urged the Court to restore the original Constitution.

In Who Belongs, Stephen M. Feldman assesses how the conservative justices of the Roberts Court seem intent on undoing the 1937 constitutional transformation. Yet, Feldman reveals, they are not returning the nation to pre-1937 republican democratic constitutional principles. Instead, the justices reinterpret the post-1937 rights of religious freedom, free speech, and equal protection to privilege a narrow segment of the American people – white, Christian, heterosexual men. The Roberts Court is limiting who fully belongs to ""We the People,"" narrowing the rights of non-Christians, people of color, women, and LGBTQ

individuals. Ultimately, the conservative justices are interpreting individuals' rights to serve minority rule – in harmony with the political agenda of white Christian nationalism.

Providing a powerful assessment of white Christian nationalism in American constitutionalism, Who Belongs reminds us that a healthy democracy depends on not only what rights exist but also who enjoys them.

By: Stephen M. Feldman
Imprint: New York University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781479841141
ISBN 10: 1479841145
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 20 January 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Stephen M. Feldman is the Jerry W. Housel/Carl F. Arnold Distinguished Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Wyoming. He is the author of Please Don't Wish Me a Merry Christmas: A Critical History of the Separation of Church and State, Free Expression and Democracy in America: A History, and Pack the Court! A Defense of Supreme Court Expansion among other titles.

Reviews for Who Belongs: White Christian Nationalism and the Roberts Court

""Vigorous, opinionated, and forceful, Stephen Feldman's Who Belongs is a powerful book, putting the current Supreme Court in both jurisprudential and historical context."" - Paul Finkelman, University of Toledo College of Law