Allen D. Hertzke

An internationally recognized expert on religion and politics, Allen Hertzke is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Oklahoma.  He is author of Representing God in Washington, an award-winning analysis of religious lobbies, which has been issued in a Chinese language translation; co-author of Religion and Politics in America, a comprehensive text now in its fifth edition; and   Freeing God’s Children:  The Unlikely Alliance for Global Human Rights. He is editor of The Future of Religious Freedom:  Global Challenges (Oxford University Press, 2012), Religious Freedom in America:  Constitutional Roots and Contemporary Challenges (University of Oklahoma Press, 2015); and co-editor of a two volume project, Christianity and Freedom: Historical Perspectives and Christianity and Freedom:  Contemporary Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 2016). 

 A frequent news commentator, Hertzke has been featured in such outlets as The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, London Times, Time Magazine, New Republic, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Weekly Standard, BBC World Service, PBS, and National Public Radio.   He has held positions in Washington D.C. as Visiting Senior Fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and as Visiting Scholar at the Brookings Institution.  Between 2008-2010 he served as lead consultant, first for the Pew Charitable Trusts and then for the John Templeton Foundation, to develop strategic recommendations for advancing religious freedom around the globe. 

 A winner of numerous teaching awards, Dr. Hertzke has lectured at the National Press Club, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, and before numerous audiences in China.  He is a former member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Selected Publications

Lobbying for the Faithful

The Future of Religious Freedom: Global Challenges

Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture, and Strategic Choices

Representing God at the Statehouse