In Pursuit of Justice: Christian-Democratic Explorations. By James W. Skillen. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2004. 192p. $65.00 cloth, $22.95 paper.

This is a timely book about the relation of theory to practice and of Christian faith to politics. Its author first crafts a case for a Christian-democratic understanding of person, polity, and justice, and then explores possible implications of this worldview for various U.S. policy issues. The book is brief but thought provoking, written in clear and engaging prose and surveying an impressive range of scholarly literature. Among the chief merits of In Pursuit of Justice are its interdisciplinary character and its breadth. The arguments advanced should interest practitioners of many fields within political science, including political theory, American politics, policy studies, constitutional law, and religion and politics.