Tocqueville, Covenant, and the Democratic Revolution examines the intellectual and institutional context in which Alexis de Tocqueville developed his understanding of American political culture, with its profound influence on his democratic theory. American democracy, Tocqueville maintained, had emerged from the covenant tradition of Reformed Protestantism. The covenant, or foederal, theology of New England Puritans provided the ideational basis for federated church and civil government, which directly influenced the American constitutionalism and the republican institutions that Tocqueville later observed. Tocqueville suggested that the principles underlying American constitutionalism offered broader lessons in the art and science of self-government. An important book for scholars of Tocqueville as well as American political thought, this book suggests that an understanding of the American covenant tradition is critical to our interpretation of Tocqueville's analysis of the democratic revolution and the "new science of politics" it necessitated.

Joy Falls is Barbara Allen's first novel. If she were given money for all the times this novel was a runner-up, she would be rich. She received an MFA from the University of Arizona in poetry. Her poetry has been published in literary journals, Ploughshares, New England Review, Seattle Review, and Fine Madness. She has received an Arizona Commission of the Arts fellowship and lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Chapter 1 Preface: A Curious Inquiry Part 2 Part One: Tocqueville & American Federal Democracy Chapter 3 Point of Departure: Covenant & the Democratic Revolution Chapter 4 Orderly Knit Together: Colonial Covenants & Federations Chapter 5 Harmonizing Earth with Heaven: Church & State in the Federal Republic Part 6 Part Two: The Hopes & Fears of the Democratic Age Chapter 7 Another Form of Hope: Religious Belief & the Democratic Soul Chapter 8 The Art and Science of Association: The Federal Matrix & the Democratic Soul Chapter 9 A Failure of Heart and Mind: Conformity, Uniformity, & Despotism in the Democratic Social Power Part 10 Part Three: Democracy & Paradox Chapter 11 Bonds of Affection: Republican Motherhood, Sacrifice, & Civic Virtue Chapter 12 Bonds of Affliction: Race Ideology & the Limits of Democratic Progress Chapter 13 Servitude or Freedom? Civic Enlightenment & the New Science of Politics