Dominionism may be described in several ways. In loosest terms, it is the idea expressed by some Christians, particularly of the far right persuasion, that governance (in America especially) should be by Christian people, and that in fact it is laid upon Christians to take political office or lead in civil affairs. Some say that the term dominionism arises from the idea expressed in the Book of Genesis, where man is given dominion “over every living thing that moves upon the earth," and in very strict interpretation, some subscribing to these beliefs may believe that men (not women) are given this mandate to govern.

There are a number of different theories that fall under the heading of dominionism and they have their origin mainly in the rise of the Christian right. Definition may really vary when the term is used currently and it can mean some opposing things depending upon who is using the term. A few examples of what might be considered dominionism include the following:

1. Governance ought to be based on Christian principals, though these principals are applied to civil law and Christianity is not required.
2. The founding fathers envisioned a Christian nation and laws should reflect this early bent toward Christianity.
3. Government should specifically preference Christianity over other religions.
4. The best state would be heavily theocratic and separation of church and state is anti-religious.
5. Society should be exclusively based on Christian thought and philosophy.

For many Americans, the idea of dominionism flies in the face of the long held principal that separation between church and state is important. It frankly frightens people who are not of this form of Christianity that law and governance would be based on Christian perspective only, or that the only fit politicians would be Christians. Especially given the diverse religious backgrounds of American citizens, dominionism in its strictest expression would seem to build in discrimination against non-Christians (or even those of different Christian sects) and some have argued that creation of a theocratic state would be not so different from some theocracies that exist today and are based on fundamental Islamic principals.

Varieties of dominionist thinking exist and aren’t always implicitly expressed by churches, though there are some churches that do take a strictly and very conservative dominionist view. Given the somewhat negative connotations of the term, dominionists may seldom describe themselves as such. Instead the term Christianist may be used, when a person holds some of these views.

There are heated arguments for and against dominionist concepts. One of the key ones for those who oppose this movement is that not all of the founding fathers were Christian. Thomas Jefferson was a deist. This argument is that a singular Christian view is not in keeping with the intent of the founding fathers and their diverse religious beliefs at the time were one of the main reasons that the founders proposed strict separation of church and state.

On the other hand, there is no way to prevent people who subscribe to these views from voting for candidates with similar viewpoints. When a candidate is potentially a dominionist, effort is usually made by those opposed to the candidate to bring forth this information. This allows voters to make an informed choice.