Full of fine moments.

American Historical Review

This book is a remarkably original effort to develop a fresh understanding and appreciation of Tocqueville's "new science of politics."

Perspectives on Politics

For those of us who have recognized the common intellectual framework in Adam Smith and The Federalist in their analysis of polycentric systems as applied to self-governance through federalism and in markets, Barbara Allen's analysis of Tocqueville makestwo very important contributions: First is how closely the self-government covenanting of New England Protestants parallels federalism in its analysis of governance systems and secondly how important religious culture was to reinforcing polycentric arrangements. This work is revealing for those who would like to extend self-government, federalism and markets into other cultures and especially for economists who need to understand the cultural context of institutional arrangements for both markets and governance..

- Robert L. Bish, Professor Emeritus, Economics and Public Administration, University of Virginia,