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Democracy in America

by Alexis de Tocqueville, Isaac Kramnick (Introduction), Gerald Bevan (Translation)

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 8,383 ratings · 346 reviews

In 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat and ambitious civil servant, made a nine-month journey throughout America. The result was Democracy in America, a monumental study of the life and institutions of the evolving nation. Tocqueville looked to the flourishing democratic system in America as a possible model for post-revolutionary France, believing that t...more

Paperback, 992 pages

Published July 1st 2003 by Penguin Classics (first published 1836)

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Dec 29, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm going with 4 stars here, it isn't always the easiest book to read, but worth it. There is a lot of wisdom in this book, a lot of insight. While history hasn't borne out all his predictions, there have been enough. Sadly also, it looks as though more of the things he said may still prove to be true.

In today's atmosphere, the thoughts here compared to the reality we live in and that "may" be coming to pass....well, it's worth some thought. When America broke away from the "branch" so to speak...more I'm going with 4 stars here, it isn't always the easiest book to read, but worth it. There is a lot of wisdom in this book, a lot of insight. While history hasn't borne out all his predictions, there have been enough. Sadly also, it looks as though more of the things he said may still prove to be true.

In today's atmosphere, the thoughts here compared to the reality we live in and that "may" be coming to pass....well, it's worth some thought. When America broke away from the "branch" so to speak it was a new thing in the world. No colony had ever done what was done here and it was an idealistic experiment even a dream that was watched by the world. Europe was...somewhat worried and England in particular was very unhappy about the implications. Had the War of 1812 gone differently on this side of the Atlantic we all still might be drinking tea more than coffee as it could have changed everything. But when you say "the War of 1812" in Europe their minds go to battles and events other than here in North America. They think of the Napoleonic war.

But back to the subject. The American Revolution raised questions worldwide and things began to percolate. In France things boiled over not long after they did here. It's notable that many in the academic community are far more enamored with the French Revolution than with the American. You see it was "supposed to be" a "rational Revolution" it was a Godless revolution with all the clergy and God Himself rejected by the leaders and much of the movement (the clergy was seen as close to the royals you see). Unfortunately the French Revolution spun out of control into a rein of terror and then into a military dictatorship.

In the wake of all this a young man (Alexis de Tocqueville) spent 9 months touring the "new" United States and when he returned to France he wrote this book commenting on the social and governmental "situation" and implications.

He was torn between hopeful and...well, not so hopeful.

So I recommend the book. It's interesting, thought provoking and somewhat sobering. I leave you with one quote from said book:

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

Think about it.(less)

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Feb 17, 2009 Karey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bettering-myself

Update: My brother just told me that Kurt Vonnegut says that anyone who hasn't read Democracy in America is a wimp. So I guess that makes me almost not a wimp. Well!

Post from a few weeks ago: I've been wanting to read de Toqueville's, Democracy in America for some time, and I've finally bit the bullet. The translation is beautifully done. De Toqueville's sentiments are eloquent and thought provoking. Wonderful.

How's that for summer reading! Part of me wishes we still talked like pilgrims.

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Dec 24, 2012 Dan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, social-science, philosophy

This is not a review by any means, just a placeholder to indicate that after two months of enthusiasm, two months of stalling, and a final two months of hard reading, I have finally finished Democracy in America. I am no longer a wimp!

In my altered state (the euphoria of having finished such an amazing book), I cannot with sound mind expound upon how awesome this book is. It will take many years of study and careful re-reading to fully comprehend the importance of what I just read. I'll write a...more

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Oct 26, 2009 blake rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

I'll start by saying that I'm not sure what gives a 25 year-old rich French kid on a pleasure cruise through the New World the credibility to make completely unsupported assertions on the political and social climate of early America, and have them be accepted as gospel. After slogging through 300 or so pages, I'm exceedingly grateful that this abridged version exists, because I can't imagine ever wasting the time on the complete edition. I was interested in reading a book that has been hailed f...more I'll start by saying that I'm not sure what gives a 25 year-old rich French kid on a pleasure cruise through the New World the credibility to make completely unsupported assertions on the political and social climate of early America, and have them be accepted as gospel. After slogging through 300 or so pages, I'm exceedingly grateful that this abridged version exists, because I can't imagine ever wasting the time on the complete edition. I was interested in reading a book that has been hailed for its perpetual timeliness, foresight, and penetrating insight into early American democracy, but I was sorely disappointed on every single front.

Tocqueville does occasionally make some interesting observations. In the beginning he spends a significant amount of time talking about the political power inherent in the townships (i.e. small, local groups), which is an incredibly important point, and one still relevant today. It was also particularly interesting to me after reading Hannah Arendt's On Revolution, where she heavily emphasizes the same. (Incidentally, I highly recommend Arendt's analysis of the beginning of our country and the formation of the Constitution -- it is much more penetrating than Tocqueville, mainly because she's insanely brilliant.) Later in the book, there is a 2-3 page section in chapter 34 ("How An Aristocracy May Be Created By Manufactures") that I found particularly prescient, essentially describing the division and alienation of labor about a half-century before Marx popularized the idea.

These two observations were about the extent of the positives. The rest is so mired in sweeping generalizations and arrogant condescension as to be virtually worthless. His analysis of the manners and temperament of the American people is completely irrelevant now, but couldn't have been much more relevant then, since it was based on only one man's observation, and since he was clearly writing with an aristocratic chip on his shoulder. His predictions, which are hailed as so sage, are wrong at least half the time, making him about as wise as me. My favorite was when he talked about how unlikely it would be for the U.S. to experience a civil war, and this a whopping 25 years before civil war broke out.

There are two huge oversights that led Tocqueville to severely miscalculate America's trajectory. One, the rise of corporations and their near-invincible power, was only hinted at in chapter 34, but its omission is forgiveable since the phenomenon was not necessarily intuitive. In reality, Tocqueville's "tyranny of the majority" is a red herring, because an elite oligarchy ended up controlling everything more or less by the beginning of the 20th century. His other oversight, however, was less pardonable. He spent shockingly little time talking about how easily manipulable by propaganda his tyrannical majority would be. This would essentially make them a tool of the wealthy elite. His only references to public opinion were oblique and clearly not indicating anything like the extent of the media manipulation that we started to see, again around the turn of the 20th century. His reference to a free press hints at it, but the omission of a deeper discussion is noticeable.

I could give more examples, through quotations, of some of the generalizations I'm talking about, but I honestly don't want to waste the time. Instead, I'll give my favorite quote, from chapter 48 ("Why Great Revolutions Will Become More Rare"). I like it because it is actually timely, describing pretty deftly what is going on right now in the U.S.:

. . .When property becomes so fluctuating, and the love of property so restless and so ardent, I cannot but fear that men may arrive at such a state as to regard every new theory as a peril, every innovation as an irksome toil, every social improvement as a stepping-stone to revolution, and so refuse to move altogether for fear of being moved too far. I dread, and I confess it, lest they should at last so entirely give way to a cowardly love of present enjoyment, as to lose sight of the interests of their future selves and those of their descendants; and prefer to glide along the easy current of life, rather than to make, when it is necessary, a strong and sudden effort to a higher purpose.

I must admit that overall I am glad to have gotten the general idea of what people are talking about when they refer to Tocqueville. After thinking two stars (based mostly on enjoyability and disappointed expectations), I have to go ahead with three, just because of the scope of the thing. It's darn impressive to pen a thousand page study of the political and social landscape of early America. Even if you're only right around half the time, it still takes a pair to give it a go. And I respect that.

Caveat: I read the 320 page abridged version, so some of my complaints may be simple misunderstandings due to ignorance.(less)

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Oct 13, 2008 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, read2008, literature

I read selections this time around, as I did years ago.

de Tocqueville toured and studied America not long after the French Revolution. He was hoping to glean ideas for his own country. I think what he found couldn't necessarily apply. He says we had no democratic revolution, because we began democratically. This makes sense, as our Revolution was simply an effort to keep that independent flavor, rather than lose it to our parent country.

Among the many things he observes and analyzes, I was inter...more

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Oct 03, 2007 Jerry Raviol rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this in response to my frustration with what I saw as our inability to bring democracy to other places in the world. Chapters 1-42 and 55 - 57 are the most insightful. Others tend to drag. In 1830s de Tocqueville comes to America to figure our why a democratic revolution in France lead to anarchy and despotism, while a democratic revolution in America lead to freedom. What he finds is still relevant to our trying to bring or give democracy to others.

Two things emerge- first there were ma...more

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Mar 19, 2008 Trashy Pit rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

Considered a must-read classic about US history and US political culture. In fact, the most over-rated book in all of history. Complete waste of your time. I'd give it zero stars if I could. Alexis spent all his time hanging with his plantation-owner buddies in the South who ran the US gov't at the time, then wrote a book about how great Democracy in the US was. Except for a couple of pages, he ignores all the main issues of US political and economic history: slavery, racism, exploitation, genoc...more

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Nov 22, 2007 blue-collar mind rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: lucid people who find representative democracy a bit puzzling

Shelves: read-a-bit-here-and-there

I love doing that time travel thing, when you find an author who can bring you to his or her time, and you are like Samantha in Bewitched talking to Franklin while wearing her sensible 60s housewife clothes.
I read my little copy of this book for a few minutes every other day or so, much like (it occurs to me) religiousists read the bible, although I always remember that my choice was written by a youngish white European of no particular esteem who went to check out America, rather than a book d...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Michael Beaton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics, history

A look at America that we have no experience of... How the country was forming, working out, and manifesting in real terms the principles that were its foundation. Especially in light of all the real time forces of emerging capitalism (Adam Smith), Global power, nascent democracy superseding old monarchies and feudal systems, as well as the role of religion, doctrine, and dogma.

After 200+ years we have worked out many of these issues to some level of pragmatic application... some of which have...more

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May 04, 2012 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: political, non-fiction

Even for the modern reader, de Tocqueville’s message is germane and enlightening, and at times feels prophetic. Though one may not agree with every facet, his arguments are consistent and fair glimpses of his perspective of the unique American culture (I say “American” instead of United Statesian - not because I don’t understand the vast topography of the Americas, and that the United States is but a portion of the Americas – but because Statesian isn’t a word. I choose culture instead of democr...more Even for the modern reader, de Tocqueville’s message is germane and enlightening, and at times feels prophetic. Though one may not agree with every facet, his arguments are consistent and fair glimpses of his perspective of the unique American culture (I say “American” instead of United Statesian - not because I don’t understand the vast topography of the Americas, and that the United States is but a portion of the Americas – but because Statesian isn’t a word. I choose culture instead of democracy, because we all know we’re a Democratic Republic. Right? Good.) I loved the clarity of his discourse, and found it flowed gracefully.

There were many quotes which stuck out for me, including:

"The settlers … possessed, in proportion to their number, a greater mass of intelligence than is to be found in any European nation of our own time … Nor did they cross the Atlantic to improve their situation or to increase their wealth; it was a purely intellectual craving that called them from the comforts of their former homes; and in facing the inevitable sufferings of exile their object was the triumph of an idea."

and

"Centralization easily succeeds, indeed, in subjecting the external actions of men to a certain uniformity, which we come at last to love for its own sake, independently of the objects to which it is applied, like those devotees who worship the statue and forget the deity it represents."

But my greatest delight was Chapter XI, "Of The Spirit In Which The Americans Cultivate The Arts." If I could, I would have included the entire section in this review. I thought de Tocqueville’s observations regarding the creation of arts and the ethos of New World artisans most fascinating!

"Democratic nations… will therefore cultivate the arts which serve to render life easy, in preference to those whose object is to adorn it. They will habitually prefer the useful to the beautiful, and they will require that the beautiful should be useful."

"When, on the contrary, every profession is open to all—when a multitude of persons are constantly embracing and abandoning it—and when its several members are strangers to each other, indifferent, and from their numbers hardly seen amongst themselves; the social tie is destroyed, and each workman, standing alone, endeavors simply to gain the greatest possible quantity of money at the least possible cost. The will of the customer is then his only limit."

"… In democracies there are always a multitude of individuals whose wants are above their means, and who are very willing to take up with imperfect satisfaction rather than abandon the object of their desires."

"When none but the wealthy had watches, they were almost all very good ones: few are now made which are worth much, but everybody has one in his pocket. Thus the democratic principle not only tends to direct the human mind to the useful arts, but it induces the artisan to produce with greater rapidity a quantity of imperfect commodities, and the consumer to content himself with these commodities."

"When I arrived for the first time at New York, by that part of the Atlantic Ocean which is called the East River, I was surprised to perceive along the shore, at some distance from the city, a considerable number of little palaces of white marble, several of which were built after the models of ancient architecture. When I went the next day to inspect more closely one which had particularly attracted my notice, I found that its walls were of whitewashed brick, and its columns of painted wood. All the edifices which I had admired the night before were of the same kind."

By no means is this difficult or dry reading. For the student of political science, it is a must.
(less)

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Mar 17, 2012 Richard marked it as to-read

Shelves: classic, history, non-fiction, social-political, philosophy

Have to eventually read this, of course.

Just a note, for now. I was reading about some essay on The Economist, and one of the comments quoted from de Tocqueville. The comment, below, reminded me of one of the reasons I’m somewhat pessimistic about America’s future as Aquinas’ “city on a hill”.

The foundation of New England was a novel spectacle, and all the circumstances attending it were singular and original. […]
The settlers who established themselves on the shores of New England all belonged

...more Have to eventually read this, of course.

Just a note, for now. I was reading about some essay on The Economist, and one of the comments quoted from de Tocqueville. The comment, below, reminded me of one of the reasons I’m somewhat pessimistic about America’s future as Aquinas’ “city on a hill”.

The foundation of New England was a novel spectacle, and all the circumstances attending it were singular and original. […]
The settlers who established themselves on the shores of New England all belonged to the more independent classes of their native country. Their union on the soil of America at once presented the singular phenomenon of a society containing neither lords nor common people, neither rich nor poor. These men possessed, in proportion to their number, a greater mass of intelligence than is to be found in any European nation of our own time. All, without a single exception, had received a good education, and many of them were known in Europe for their talents and their acquirements. The other colonies had been founded by adventurers without family; the emigrants of New England brought with them the best elements of order and morality, they landed in the desert accompanied by their wives and children. But what most especially distinguished them was the aim of their undertaking. They had not been obliged by necessity to leave their country, the social position they abandoned was one to be regretted, and their means of subsistence were certain. Nor did they cross the Atlantic to improve their situation, or to increase their wealth; the call which summoned them from the comforts of their homes was purely intellectual; and in facing the inevitable sufferings of exile, their object was the triumph of an idea.
— [Page 31, Democracy In America, Alexis De Tocqueville; via google books]

What de Tocqueville recognized was the incredible exceptionalism of America’s founders, and their immediate lineage.

Beyond that, the United States has had a few other important sources of differentiation.

First, the land was — for their intents and purposes — empty (the annihilation of the native Americans is of utmost importance, but not central to this analysis). A historically unprecedented amount of land and resources was very quickly translated into a wealthy and powerful country, one still united in its self-identity, not riven by zero-sum contests of acquisition.

Second, at the same time the industrial revolution was the cause of an increasing number of those same zero-sum contests of acquisition in Europe, so the peaceful growth of the United States was even more dramatic in comparison.

In the centuries since then, the United States has become “normal”, just like other developed countries. We now fight with each other roughly to the same degree as any other developed country. In the decades since the end of WWII, the United States has spent incredible sums as the hegemon, both wisely and foolishly. Even though it should have been apparent years ago that the country can no longer afford to exercise this role — in fiscal or repetitional terms — the belief in America’s “mission” forces continuing impoverishment.

Samuel Johnson claimed that “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”, but what is of equal concern today is that patriotism is beggaring the country.(less)

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Mar 01, 2012 Jeremy Perron rated it 5 of 5 stars

Alexis De Tocqueville was a French statesman and political theorist who came to America to examine the American prison system in the year 1835. However, while here and touring the country he began something far more interesting, a work known as Democracy in America. In the book*, Tocqueville captures the American character of the Jacksonian Era. Even though it is about our past one can still see elements of our modern character in the work. Even 175 years after it was first published there is a...more

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Feb 01, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was going to read a book about "Democracy in America," but hadn't actually read the original. How silly is that? This two volume book by Alexis de Tocqueville is about America in 1831. It should be required reading for anyone in the federal government. It's apparent that the American brand of democracy cannot simply be exported to another country. The peculiar history of the United States (and how many other people get to start with a new continent)--its individual states, common cause, Britis...more

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Sep 26, 2011 S'hi rated it 4 of 5 stars

So much of relevance still in this book - about how we think within the context of our social, political and economic circles. A very useful tool for considering many of the current conversations taking place which must make us question whether we are heading in the right direction or just basing our actions upon assumptions which we have not adequately examined.
Albert Einstein said:
Concepts that have proven useful in ordering things easily achieve such authority over us that we forget their ear...more

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Jan 14, 2010 Briana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: foundations-of-american-thought

You know what's not cool? Buying a 320 page book and finding out that you have the wrong copy, which means that you only have a week to find the right copy and finish reading it, and you buy the right copy, which turns out to be 720 pages. That is not cool. That is the definition of un-coolness. Especially when you end up reading 100 pages in one night...

HOWEVER, you know what is cool? Tocqueville's writing style! (Yes, he's French...he writes like Montesquieu...) Check out this chapter title:

H...more

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Jul 03, 2009 Alan Marchant rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, historical

Exploring the New World ...

... of Sociology.

I had expected that deTocqueville's classic would be a study of political technique, like an expanded version of The Prince or The Art Of War. Instead Democracy in America (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) is an original and powerful exploration of Sociology (generations before Max Weber).

deTocqueville draws on his experiences touring the United States in 1830 to make observations and speculations about the influence of social ideals (especially equal...more

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Jun 29, 2009 Jake rated it 5 of 5 stars

Growing up I was thankful that nowhere in my liberal arts education was I assigned to read Tocqueville’s “(On) Democracy in America”. The idea that it was written by a Frenchman always worried me, not for any particular political reasons but more so because I was afraid the connection would not be made between the author's intentions and the translation produced. Of course, there is no way to determine if the author's thoughts are properly conveyed but the translation comes across clear and reve...more

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May 27, 2012 Rozzer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, reviewed, online-f

I know people who are so far above me in intelligence and comprehension as to appear to be different kinds of beings. Aliens. Angels. Whatever. And Tocqueville was one of these. Here you have a very young man who visited another country for a research project, stayed less than a year, and then returned home to write an evaluation of that foreign country with a degree of understanding and comprehension not only entirely surpassing that of any of the foreign country's residents but obviously seein...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Viswanathan Venkataraman rated it 5 of 5 stars

Much talked about, much acclaimed and even called "at once the best book ever written on democracy and the best book ever written on America”
Whatever it may be there is no doubt it is a fantastic book. The book covers nearly every imaginable aspect of American government, politics, society, and culture. Though written in 1835 many of the observation are true even today or give an idea as to how and why American has evolved differently and has remained staunchly democratic.
I at least felt my unde...more

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Jun 09, 2008 Maureen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Maureen by: Neil

Shelves: history

Did you have to read this book for Political Science 101? I did, and I still have my copy of it. In this election year, it would be worth taking a look at this book again. It seems to me that, particularly in the past eight years, we have strayed off the path of the ideals that this book represents. Anyone interested in democracy, equality, and the role of the military in government should own a copy of this book. Make sure it is the unabridged one.

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Sep 16, 2009 brook rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is (of course) very dated now, but it gives the reader an excellent idea of how America came to be, and also shows how American "values" have not changed over time. Clearly Tocqueville is a bit enamored with the America that he sees, but he manages to do a thorough and not always positive review of what constitutes the country. Much of it is contrasting Americans of the time with the rest of the world. As an American, this is a valuable book to read for a better understanding of the be...more

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Jan 01, 2008 Graham rated it 5 of 5 stars

So damned important that I forced myself to read the whole thing. Important for the myths that it created about America as well as the truths it observes. Nothing necessarily radical or progressive here, but still hugely influential. Should be read because every asshole politician likes to cite it. The Penguin Classics version is the one you want because it is unabridged.

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Oct 25, 2011 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is one of the most quoted books ever and now I understand why. Written in the early 1800s, Alexis de Tocueville, a French visitor to America, studied America as an emerging nation and wrote an amazing tribute to the benefits of a free society based on a constitution that allows equality of all men. He critiqued American government, business, eduction, institutions and the arts, as well as Americans in general. His perspectives give new light to the things we take for granted every day. This...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Dave rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical

De Tocqueville captures a young America and its brief experience with Democracy, and it is fascinating to see from his view point, but he makes many broad, sweeping generalizations and jumps to conclusions without building premises or providing substantive facts. He also goes forward to make predictions, but I think America and Democracy were so new and unknown that he could not think through all of the possible variables. Through out much of the book I wondered if he was going to benefit from p...more

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Jul 31, 2010 Jeremy added it · review of another edition

Shelves: politics

My biggest reservation about this is that Tocqueville seems to be using such broad strokes. Even in the middle of the 1800's I find it hard to believe that there is a definitive American character which you can just codify and examine at will. That being said, he does make some really smart observations about the problems of individualism versus collective action and how Americans tend not to really examine the sorts of hypocrisies which both of these kinds of action and belief entail. I think i...more

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Nov 26, 2008 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars

Vielleicht kein sehr lesbares Buch, ähnlich wie Madame de Staël(alter, langer Schinken). Aber Tocqueville sieht um 1830 in einem ihm fremden Land die Zukunft voraus: Er beschreibt eine Gesellschaft, in der Freiheitsrechte und eine freie Presse bestehen, in der es das Ideal der Chancengleichheit gibt, die demokratisch organisiert ist. 170 Jahre später sind wir fasziniert von Amerika, weil diese Gesellschaft einen schwarzen Afrikaner an die Spitze ihres politischen Systems gestellt hat. Das hat To...more

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Dec 29, 2009 Jason Pettus rated it 4 of 5 stars

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called classics, then write reports on whether or not they deserve the label

Essay #35: Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville (1835)

The story in a nutshell:
Although these days we take it for granted, for a long time democracy had...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Marks54 rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a filling in of a book I read in the fall of 1989. It is a long volume, so to motivate myself to read this classic, I enrolled in a continuing studies great books program, so that there was a structured discussion to force a paced reading. This is a terrific book and of continuing relevance today. I think Tocqueville is much richer than the many uses to which it is put by pundits and it would be highly counterproductive to attempt a summarize. Reading this in conjunction with a biography...more

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Apr 15, 2012 The Chestertonian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, political-theory

Five reasons you really might want to consider reading Democracy in America:

1. You were assigned it for a political theory class. Yes, in this circumstance, I would definitely recommend reading it. This should not need elaboration.

2. You just love beautiful writing. Congratulations. The introduction alone will be a literary feast worth the price of the book. (Note that this might vary by translation; mine is the Mansfield and Winthrop translation.)

3. You feel unlearned, inferior, left out, and...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Colleen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sara-s, political-science, american-politics, american-history, constitution-of-usa, education, european-history, european-politics, history, idealism-and-self-interest, political-reform

When I first started this book a few years ago I thought that de Tocqueville was a little off the mark as to how our great experiment would play. But since then I have come to realize that his analysis was frighteningly accurate. I always believed that the United States was governed by law and that the Constitution was the foundation of that law. What I see now is that our nation has almost wholly abandoned law and is being bullied by "the masses" because those masses are now choosing to listen...more

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About Alexis de Tocqueville

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.

Democr...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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The Old Regime and the French Revolution

Democracy in America (Library of America #147)

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Quotes from Democracy in America

“I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.” — 73 people liked it

“Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom.” — 40 people liked it

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