This article review considers the recent book by Jeffrey Stout, Democracy and Tradition, as a response to the work of Stanley Hauerwas and other Christian ‘new traditionalists’. The essay presents a brief overview of the book in order to ask questions of both Stout and Hauerwas. The author considers how ‘new traditionalists’ might respond to Stout with a theological concern for ‘participation’ in God's triune life as a model for citizenship, recommending that the scriptures play a more central role in public, democratic discourse.