Habits of the heart.

• Author: Townsend, Kathleen Kennedy

Robert Bellah and his colleagues argue that the goal of government is to serve "the public good," as James Madison said, and that government will succeed in this task only if citizens have developed a sense of personal and social responsibility. Madison knew that while checks and balances are important, they alone will not guarantee the survival of freedom: "To suppose that my form of government will secure liberty and happiness without virtue in the people is a chimerical idea."

Habits of the Heart asks whether the virtue necessary for freedom and happiness is now being developed. Here, five authors mine their knowledge of sociology, history, religion, and philosophy to explore the mores of the American middle class. The book takes its title from Alexis de Tocqueville's observation that it is the "habits of the heart," the attitudes and values of our society more than its laws, which maintain democratic institutions.

The authors find that what Americans commonly understand as freedom and happiness has changed over 200 years. Freedom, as Jefferson wrote, was the ability to be a "participator in the government of affairs," while happiness derived from the exercise of that freedom. Like "life" and "liberty," "the pursuit of happiness" was not a right to be enjoyed only occasionally but was an integral part of daily living. Today, in contrast, freedom usually means an individual's ability to pursue a happiness that he will enjoy in private.

This radical individualism disturbs the authors, who find the pursuit of private happiness has not resulted in either a happy people or a vibrant republic. They set out to show the debilitating effect of self-referential individualism and to encourage discussions that will reawaken the ideals of freedom and commitment current 200 years ago.

The authors think a positive view of freedom emerges from what they call the biblical and republican traditions. They praise John Winthrop for envisioning the "city upon the hill." For him, Puritan virtue required that he work within his community, rather than retreat, as did Roger Williams, into private purity. They honor Jefferson for recognizing a law more basic than the statutes allowing slavery: "Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice can not sleep forever." They extol Lincoln for his use of biblical imagery to express his vision of the Union. Each of these leaders understood how to reveal transcendence in political life.

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