In the last century and a half, the shape of Christian political the ory has been re-thought, both in Catholic and in Reformed1 circles. Fears of excessive centralization have led to attempts to identify theo logically grounded principles limiting the reach of "big government." In Catholicism, the principle of subsidiarity has been propounded, while the Dutch Reformed thinker, Abraham Kuyper, expounded a theory of sphere sovereignty. Are these ideas viable? Are they ways of saying the same things to different theological audiences? Do they contradict one another or complement one another? Or are they merely theological and political cul-de-sacs?