Religious rhetoric in American populism: civil religion as movement ideology

Analysis of the rhetoric of late nineteenth-century American Populism reveals it to be replete with language, symbolism, and references. Far from being incidental to Populism's basic message, the reli language was an important resource in the movement's ideology. Religious rhetoric, drawn particularl from American 'civil religious' discourse, gave Populism a politically legitimate vocabulary and helped constitute the movement's attempt at striking a balance between individual liberty and commun equality. Religious themes were crucial to the movement's critique of its society and its prescripti better world. We argue that such rhetoric is too often overlooked due to assumptions about Populism' 'economic' message; however, in order to understand Populism as a movement, it is necessary to understand the language with which it presented itself.