Dominionism is a term used to describe politically active conservative Christians that are believed to seek influence or control over secular civil government through political action, especially in the United States, with the goal of either a nation governed by Christians, or a nation governed by a conservative Christian understanding of biblical law.

The use and application of this terminology is controversial. Apart from a handful of social scientists who first coined it, the term is almost exclusively used by journalists and bloggers, and there is an ongoing debate about the usefulness of the term.

Although dominionism is used in several distinct ways, most usage originates directly or indirectly from a specific passage in the King James Version of the Bible:

And God blessed [ Adam and Eve ] and God said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." —Genesis 1:28 (KJV)

Michele Marie Bachmann (pronounced /ˈbɑːkmən/; née Amble; born April 6, 1956) is an American Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Minnesota's 6th congressional district, a post she has held since 2007. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Woodbury, and Blaine as well as Stillwater and St. Cloud.

She was a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, winning the Ames Straw Poll in August 2011 but dropping out in January 2012 after finishing in sixth place in the Iowa caucuses. Bachmann previously served in the Minnesota State Senate and is the first Republican woman to represent the state in Congress. She is a supporter of the Tea Party movement and a founder of the House Tea Party Caucus.

Bachmann was born Michele Marie Amble in Waterloo, Iowa "into a family of Norwegian Lutheran Democrats"; her family moved from Iowa to Minnesota when she was 13 years old. After her parents divorced, Bachmann's father, David John Amble, moved to California, and Bachmann was raised by her mother, Arlene Jean (née Johnson), who worked at the First National Bank in Anoka, Minnesota. Her mother remarried when Bachmann was a teenager; the new marriage resulted in a family with nine children.

James Richard "Rick" Perry (born March 4, 1950) is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. Perry, a Republican, was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full gubernatorial terms in 2002, 2006 and 2010. With a tenure in office to date of &1000000000000001100000011 years, &10000000000000188000000188 days, Perry is the longest continuously serving current U.S. governor, and the second longest serving current U.S. governor—after Terry Branstad of Iowa. Perry served as Chairman of the Republican Governors Association in 2008 (succeeding Sonny Perdue of Georgia) and again in 2011. Perry is the longest serving governor in Texas state history. As a result, he is the only governor in modern Texas history to have appointed at least one person to every eligible state office, board, or commission position (as well as to several elected offices to which the governor can appoint someone to fill an unexpired term, such as six of the nine current members of the Texas Supreme Court).

Lou Engle is an American charismatic Christian leader, best known for his leadership of The Call and association with prominent members of the Christian Right. He is a senior leader of the International House of Prayer and has helped establish several smaller houses of prayer. He came to prominence after founding The Call, an event program that hosts twelve-hour prayer rallies.

Engle currently resides in Kansas City, Missouri. He and his wife Therese have seven children. He is known for his gravelly voice, cheerful demeanor, and rocking back and forth vigorously while praying and speaking.

Engle has been organizing large prayer rallies since 2000. These events have drawn hundreds of thousands of people in multiple countries. The size of these events, and his political statements, have raised his prominence among the Christian Right. Journalist Bruce Wilson has referred to Engle as "the unofficial prayer leader of the Republican Party". In addition to these meetings, Engle has established several small houses of prayer through his Justice House of Prayer ministry. These ministries are often located near prominent landmarks such as Harvard University or the United States Supreme Court. The locations of the ministries are strategically chosen, as the Washington, DC, ministry—which is also the first—, was placed to specifically contend the issues of abortion and the revival of righteous religious leaders in America. In 2008, Engle focused his house of prayer groups on prayer in support of California's Proposition 8 ballot measure. He has also organized groups of young people to stand in shifts, 24 hours a day in front of the United States Supreme Court in protest against abortion.