Winthrop outlines an understanding of public or governmental purposes that is much more demanding than Locke's or the Federalist's. What are the elements of Winthrop's Protestant Christian understanding, and do you find them attractive? In particular, what would it mean to have a community in which "if one member suffers all suffer with it, and if one be in honour, all rejoyce with it" (76)?

What does Mann mean when he says that "If the sea is smooth as glass we shall founder, for we are in a stoneboat" (79)? What is the dilemma of democratic governments, according to Mann? What does he propose as a solution?

Bellah argues that "a good community is one in which there is argument, even conflict, about the meaning of the shared values and goals, and certainly about how they will be actualized in everyday life" (83-4). Do you find this claim persuasive? How could this statement be compatible with Rousseau’s understanding of the general will, for example?

What does Bellah mean when he says that "morality and politics cannot be separated" (86)? What does he mean by this claim? Do you agree?