In these 13 essays, Judith Shklar explores two themes crucial to discussions of American democracy: the tension between expansive political equality and persistent social inequality; and "redeeming" American thought for those who believe it lacks the complexity and depth of the European tradition.

Foreword Dennis F. Thompson Pt. 1: American Thinkers 1: Alexander Hamilton and the Language of Political Science 2: A Friendship 3: Hawthorne in Utopia 4: Emerson and the Inhibitions of Democracy 5: An Education for America: Tocqueville, Hawthorne, Emerson 6: The Education of Henry Adams 7: Redeeming American Political Theory Pt. 2: American Distinctiveness 8: Positive Liberty, Negative Liberty in the United States 9: The Boundaries of Democracy 10: The American Idea of Aristocracy 11: A New Constitution for a New Nation 12: Democracy and the Past: Jefferson and His Heirs 13: Democratic Customs Index