The surprisingly large number of readers who chuckled over toby youngs how to lose friends. Tocquevilles intentions for his book, democracy in america, were to convince the french aristocracy that a democracy would be a superior form of government to a monarchy for the people of france. Tocqueville was active in french politics, first under the july monarchy 18301848 and then during the second republic 18491851 which succeeded the february 1848 revolution. Did tocqueville change his views on america outlined in the two and 1840. More than a century and a half ago, when most people were ruled by kings, he declared that the future belonged to democracy. Tocquevilles views on the united states took a darker turn after 1840, however, as made evident in craiutu and jennings tocqueville on america after 1840. The chicago companion to tocquevilles democracy in america is the first book written expressly to help general readers and students alike get the most out of this seminal work. Tocquevilles main purpose in writing democracy in america was to analyze the functioning of political society and the various forms of political associations, although he also had some reflections on civil society as well as the relations between political and civil society.
While i dont necessarily agree with every one of tocquevilles positions, democracy in america is an important book that can be used as a guide to measure change that has taken place since its writing, as well as to gain perspective on what has always been. It also gives us a better understanding of the nature and originality of tocquevilles analysis of american democracy placed in its original historical context. He explained what was needed for democracy to work and how it could help protect human liberty. The revival of american interest in tocqueville, dating from the 1930s, has been reinforced by the renewal of french attention, beginning about 1970, and since the early 1990s by the rediscovery of tocqueville in central and eastern europe. C the catholic university of america, 2004, 109128. In democracy in america, tocqueville vividly describes the unprecedented social equality he. In the book, tocqueville examines the democratic revolution. Tocquevilles democracy in america is worth reading for yet one more reason. We think the people are never actually wrong they are just silent, being tricked, etc.
Power exercised by the majority in america upon opinion. His findings are both timely and highly relevant as people in eastern europe and around the world are grappling with the fragile, complicated, and frequently contradictory nature of democracy. At the same time, he warned that a welfare state could seduce people into. Tocquevilles democracy in america is a classic in just this way. Tocqueville himself naturally hoped his book would be such a thing, but did not fully expect it. Democracy in america 18351840 is arguably the most perceptive and influential book ever written about american politics and society. Tocquevilles more sophisticated analysis of the essential underpinnings of a healthy democratic society argues that the genius of american democracy lies in its juxtaposition of two separate democratic tracks, one national and the other local. Therefore, while democracy in america may at times seem to be a rather disorganized collection of observations and thoughts on american democracy, it is possible to gain a coherent sense of the work as a whole by looking at all of tocquevilles various and sundry remarks through the lens of one paramount theme. Openeyed, restless, theoretical but also pragmatic, interested. What struck him most was the countrys equality of conditions, its democracy. His analyses of many issues remain relevant to current social and political problems. The book he wrote on his return to france, democracy in america, is both the best ever written on democracy and the best ever written on america. I carefully noted every conversation of this nature as soon as it occurred, but. Manent examines the prophetic nature of tocquevilles writings with breadth, clarity, and depth.
Of the principal source of belief among democratic nations. The making of tocquevilles democracy in america online. For a different account that emphasizes, instead of the continuity of american democracy with its puritan origins, the natural rights doctrine that emerged at the time of the founding, see thomas. Providence, religious terror, the usual course of nature, and the creator. Between 1958 and 1962, four out of ten textbooks cite democracy at least. Schleifer, an expert on tocqueville, has provided the background and information readers need in order to understand tocquevilles masterwork. His book provides enduring insight into the political consequences of widespread. Its title translates as on democracy in america, but english translations are usually simply entitled democracy in america. He ultimately seeks to understand the true nature of american political life and why it was so different from europe. Furthermore, tocquevilles democracy in america is often cited by presentday critics because so many of the observations in it seem extraordinarily suitable even more than one hundred and fifty years later. The general movement is from some of the more tangible bits of tocquevilles book to some of the more elusive concepts which form the core of his work. Having seen the failed attempts at a democratic government in his native france, tocqueville set out to study a stable and prosperous democracy in order to gain insight into how it worked.
Tocquevilles democracy in america flashcards quizlet. Race as political metaphor in tocquevilles democracy in america. This preliminary discussion provides the necessary background for interpreting tocquevilles engagement with america. For more than 120 years, his uncanny predictive insight has continued to fascinate thinkers, and his writings have continued to influence our interpretations of history and society. Nature and fact in tocquevilles democracy in america harvey c. As democracy in america revealed, tocqueville believed that. Books attain classic status by illuminating the universal in the particular, and by remaining perennially relevant. The book he wrote on his return to france, democracy in america, is both the. In tocquevilles discovery of america, the prizewinning biographer leo damrosch retraces tocquevilles ninemonth journey through the young nation in 1832, illuminating how his enduring ideas were born of imaginative interchange with america and americans, and painting a vivid picture of jacksonian america. America might have been if that book had ever been written. Tocquevilles views on the united states took a darker turn after 1840. Democracy in america has had the singular honor of being even to this day the work that political commentators of every stripe refer to when they seek to draw large conclusions about the society of the usa. Mansfield considers the major themes of tocquevilles work, including tocquevilles treatment of the idea of rights, the role of religion, men and.
Tocqueville embarked on his own political career in france but is best known for his contributions to history and political philosophy. Democracy in america is a large book in two volumes published five years. I explore what tocqueville had to say about the american race dilemma, the new challenges to the democratic experiment that are posed by our growing racialethnic and religious diversity, and how the longterm future of american democracy may depend as much on human nature and our ability to forge a new. Born of a journey through 17 of the nations 24 states, tocquevilles observations on american life emerge less as the product of a single brilliant mind. On the contrary, tocquevilles teaching reminds us that as responsible citizens of a democracy, we must take care to preserve the countrys inherited religious traditions and that this. It was immediately popular in both europe and the united. On one track, to be sure, he situated the broad freedoms assured by our deftly balanced national. A stunning intellectual achievement worthy of a place in the first circle of tocqueville studies. His argument for this opinion is the main theme of this books introduction. From the publication of the second volume in 1840 until his death in 1859, tocqueville continued to monitor political developments in america and committed many of his thoughts to paper in letters to his friends in america. Beinecke rare book and manuscript library, yale university. It remains the most often quoted book about the united states, not only because. Democracy in america was published after tocquevilles travels in the united states, and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science. Pierre manents book illuminates the core of tocquevilles political philosophy.
Pdf tocqueville in america download full pdf book download. Tocquevilles sojourn in america did lead to the writing of a book on the. Page 2 feelings and opinions are recruited, the heart is enlarged, and. The despotism of public opinion, the tyranny of majorities, the absence of.
He sees the united states as a unique entity because of how and why it. Tocqueville and the nature of democracy director d. Democracy in america is a large book in two volumes published five years apart, in 1835 and 1840. The closely interrelated nature of tocquevilles great themes will quickly become evident. If this idea was exposed to and accepted by the aristocracy then it would eventually be accepted by the lower classes, and hopefully bring about. In the book, tocqueville examines the democratic revolution that he believed. The participatory nature of american citizenship, in all its forms, impressed. Tocqueville and the nature of democracy is a book by pierre manent. Tocqueville on christianity and american democracy the. Tocqueville marvelled at the american experiment of democracy as he travelled through different states in the 1830s. Volume one describes and analyzes american conditions and political institutions, while volume two examines the effect of american democracy on what we would call culture literature, economics, the family, religion, etc. Tocquevilles democratic curiosity about democracy permeates his great book, which was published in two volumes, in 1835 and 1840.