Alexis de Tocqueville

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born

in Cannes, France

July 29, 1805

died

April 16, 1859

gender

male

genre

Social Sciences, Politics

influences

Voluntary association

About this author

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Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (July 29, 1805 – April 16, 1859) was a French political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America (appearing in two volumes: 1835 and 1840) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). In both of these works, he explored the effects of the rising equality of social conditions on the individual and the state in western societies.

Democracy in America (1835), his major work, published after his travels in the United States, is today considered an early work of sociology and political science. An eminent representative of the classical liberal political tradition, Tocqueville was an active participant in French politics, first under the July Monarchy (1830–1848) and then during the...more Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (July 29, 1805 – April 16, 1859) was a French political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America (appearing in two volumes: 1835 and 1840) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). In both of these works, he explored the effects of the rising equality of social conditions on the individual and the state in western societies.

Democracy in America (1835), his major work, published after his travels in the United States, is today considered an early work of sociology and political science. An eminent representative of the classical liberal political tradition, Tocqueville was an active participant in French politics, first under the July Monarchy (1830–1848) and then during the Second Republic (1849–1851) which succeeded to the February 1848 Revolution. He retired from political life after Louis Napoléon Bonaparte's December 2, 1851 coup, and thereafter began work on The Old Regime and the Revolution, Volume I. After obtaining a law degree, Alexis de Tocqueville was named auditor-magistrate at the court of Versailles. There, he met Gustave de Beaumont, a prosecutor substitute, who collaborated with him on various literary works. Both were sent to the United States to study the penitentiary system. During this trip, they wrote Du système pénitentiaire aux Etats-Unis et de son application (1832). Back in France, Tocqueville became a lawyer. He met the English economist Nassau William Senior in 1833, and they became good friends and corresponded for many years.[1] He published his master-work, De la démocratie en Amérique, in 1835. The success of this work, an early model for the science that would become known as sociology, led him to be named chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) in 1837, and to be elected the next year to the Académie des sciences morales et politiques. In 1841 he was elected to the Académie française.

Tocqueville, who despised the July Monarchy (1830–1848), began his political career in the same period. Thus, he became deputy of the Manche department (Valognes), a position which he maintained until 1851. In parliament, he defended abolitionist views and upheld free trade, while supporting the colonization of Algeria carried on by Louis-Philippe's regime. Tocqueville was also elected general counsellor of the Manche in 1842, and became the president of the department's conseil général between 1849 and 1851.

Apart from Canada, Tocqueville also made an observational tour of England, producing Memoir on Pauperism. In 1841 and 1846, he traveled to Algeria. His first travel inspired his Travail sur l'Algérie, in which he criticized the French model of colonization, based on an assimilationist view, preferring instead the British model of indirect rule, which did not mix different populations together. He went as far as openly advocating racial segregation between the European colonists and the "Arabs" through the implementation of two different legislative systems (a half century before its effective implementation with the 1881 Indigenous code).

After the fall of the July Monarchy during the February 1848 Revolution, Tocqueville was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly of 1848, where he became a member of the Commission charged with the drafting of the new Constitution of the Second Republic (1848–1851). He defended bicameralism (two parliamentary chambers) and the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage. As the countryside was thought to be more conservative than the laboring population of Paris, universal suffrage was conceived as a means to block the revolutionary spirit of Paris.

During the Second Republic, Tocqueville sided with the parti de l'Ordre against the "socialists" and workers. A few days after the February insurrection, he believed a violent clash between the workers' population agitating in favor of a "Democratic and Social Republic" and (less)

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Alexis de Tocqueville's Books

Average rating: 3.92 · 9,350 ratings · 448 reviews · 77 distinct works · Similar authors

	Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, Isaac Kramnick (Introduction), Gerald Bevan (Translation) 3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 8,370 ratings — published 1836 — 130 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Old Regime and the French Revolution by Alexis de Tocqueville, A.P. Kerr (Editor), J.P. Mayer (Editor) 3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 400 ratings — published 1856 — 22 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Democracy in America Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville, Phillips Bradley (Editor), Daniel J. Boorstin (Introduction) 4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 193 ratings — published 1835 — 36 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Democracy in America Volume 2 by Alexis de Tocqueville, Phillips Bradley (Editor), Luann Walther (Editor) 4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 avg rating — 179 ratings — published 1840 — 31 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Democracy in America (Library of America #147) by Alexis de Tocqueville, Olivier Zunz (Editor), Arthur Goldhammer (Goodreads Author) (Translator) 4.37 of 5 stars 4.37 avg rating — 59 ratings	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Recollections on the French Revolution 4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 1893 — 11 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Letters from America by Alexis de Tocqueville, Frederick Brown (Editor) 4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 2010 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Memoir on Pauperism: Does Public Charity Produce an Idle and Dependent Class of Society? 4.27 of 5 stars 4.27 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 1990 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Alexis de Tocqueville on Democracy, Revolution, and Society by Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stone (Editor), Stephen Mennell (Editor) 4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 1971 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Fortnight in the Wilderness 4.33 of 5 stars 4.33 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 1998 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Alexis de Tocqueville…

Series by Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville Oeuvres Complètes (3 books)
by Alexis de Tocqueville, Gustave de Beaumont, André Jardin (Editor)
5.0 of 5 stars 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings

Quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville

tags: misattributed

260 people liked it

“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville

tags: america, misattributed

84 people liked it

“Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville

tags: theroadtoserfdom

79 people liked it

See all Alexis de Tocqueville's quotes »

Polls

Spotlighted Book Discussion Poll I - October 26, 2011

This is a poll that adds other books to our listing of potential non fiction books to discuss and also helps the moderators determine which one or ones are the most popular. Since we have many more group members than when we first started; voting in the polls is very important. There will be a series of polls. Many of these books have been recommended by group members but were either not selected before nor voted upon before.

Vote for the book that you would most like to read and/or is the book that you believe that would appeal to the most group members.

Note:

We have added some of the books nominated thus far but we have more to add to other polls. However, this poll was getting quite large.

However, if you do not see your favorite book on this list; then just comment or pop me a note and I will immediately add it to this poll.

You can always change your vote at any time; so nothing is lost. There are some books which have been nominated by the same author; however, skip over those if the particular author does not suit you and vote for your favorite or for one you or others might want to read.

Before making your selection, please try to look up your choice and make sure it really is a book you are interested in or you think others would be; do not be lured in by the title. Also, check out the author and what others have said about the book before you (reviewers who you trust). Then of course, make your selection.

And if you do not see your favorite, just contact me and I will add it to the poll.

Stacy Schiff

Cleopatra: A Life

18 votes, 9.9%

by Robert W. Merry

A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent

13 votes, 7.2%

by Michael Korda

Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia

13 votes, 7.2%

by Philip Freeman

Alexander the Great

13 votes, 7.2%

by Andrew Roberts

The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War

12 votes, 6.6%

Allison Hoover Bartlett

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession

12 votes, 6.6%

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Laura Hillenbrand

10 votes, 5.5%

Horse Soldiers The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan

by Doug Stanton

Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers

8 votes, 4.4%

by Edward Dolnick

The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society and the Birth of the Modern World

6 votes, 3.3%

Karen Armstrong

A History of God: The 4,000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

6 votes, 3.3%

by Thomas Levenson

Newton and the Counterfeiter: The Unknown Detective Career of the World's Greatest Scientist

5 votes, 2.8%

Niall Ferguson

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

4 votes, 2.2%

by Tamim Ansary

Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes

4 votes, 2.2%

by Hugh Howard

The Painter's Chair: George Washington and the Making of American Art

4 votes, 2.2%

Gordon S. Wood

The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States

4 votes, 2.2%

The Birth of Modern Politics Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828 (Pivotal Moments in American History)

by Lynn Hudson Parsons

The Birth of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams and the Election of 1828

3 votes, 1.7%

George W. Bush

Decision Points

3 votes, 1.7%

Max Hastings

Winston's War: Churchill, 1940-1945

3 votes, 1.7%

Paul Johnson

A History of the American People

3 votes, 1.7%

Joan Waugh

U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth

3 votes, 1.7%

Paul Johnson

Churchill

3 votes, 1.7%

Niall Ferguson

Civilization: The West and the Rest

3 votes, 1.7%

Alexis de Tocqueville

Letters from America

3 votes, 1.7%

by Donald Kagan

Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy

3 votes, 1.7%

by George B. Johnson

The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments

2 votes, 1.1%

Donald Kagan

Thucydides: The Reinvention of History

2 votes, 1.1%

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Living History

2 votes, 1.1%

by Gary W. Gallagher

The Union War

2 votes, 1.1%

Paul Johnson

Modern Times: The World from the 20s to the 90s

2 votes, 1.1%

The Age of Wonder How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science

Richard Holmes

The Age of Wonder

2 votes, 1.1%

Tony Blair

The Journey

2 votes, 1.1%

Rodney Stark

God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades

2 votes, 1.1%

Adam Smith

The Wealth of Nations

2 votes, 1.1%

Karl Rove

Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight

1 vote, 0.6%

Party over Section The Rough and Ready Presidential Election of 1848 (American Presidential Elections)

by Joel H. Silbey

Party Over Section: The Rough and Ready Presidential Election of 1848

1 vote, 0.6%

A History of the Jews (Perennial Library)

Paul Johnson

A History of the Jews

1 vote, 0.6%

Madeleine Albright

Madam Secretary: A Memoir

1 vote, 0.6%

Adam Smith

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

0 votes, 0.0%

Stephen R. Bown

Merchant Kings

0 votes, 0.0%

Paul Johnson

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0 votes, 0.0%

Paul Johnson

Jesus: A Biography from a Believer

0 votes, 0.0%

181 total votes

16 comments

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Alexis de Tocqueville

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