This is the English manuscript version of a chapter published in Swedish as: “Religion och civilsamhalle: En Jamforelse mellan USA och Europa.” Pp. 135-150 in Religiös och social förändring i det glokala samhället. Samtida religionssociologiska perspektiv (in English: ”Religious and Social Change in the Glocal Society. Contemporary Sociology of Religion Perspectives”), edited by P. Pettersson, M. Axner, A. Leis-Peters, M. Middlemiss Lé Mon and A. Sjöborg. Uppsala, Sweden: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. 2014. The book is openly accessible at http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-224458. The english version was provided by the author.