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Democracy in America: And Two Essays on America
In 1831 Tocqueville set out from post-revolutionary France on a journey across America that would take him 9 months and cover 7,000 miles. The result was DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA: a subtle and prescient analysis of the life and institutions of 19th-century America. Tocqueville's study of the strengths and weaknesses of an evolving democratic society has been quoted by every American president since Eisenhower. It remains a key point of reference for any discussion of the American nation or the democratic system.
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About the author
Alexis de Tocqueville
906 books1,252 followersAlexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville, usually known as just Tocqueville, was a French aristocrat, diplomat, sociologist, political scientist, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his works Democracy in America (appearing in two volumes, 1835 and 1840) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). In both, he analyzed the living standards and social conditions of individuals as well as their relationship to the market and state in Western societies. Democracy in America was published after Tocqueville's travels in the United States and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science.
Tocqueville was active in French politics, first under the July Monarchy (1830–1848) and then during the Second Republic (1849–1851) which succeeded the February 1848 Revolution. He retired from political life after Louis Napoléon Bonaparte's 2 December 1851 coup and thereafter began work on The Old Regime and the Revolution. Tocqueville argued the importance of the French Revolution was to continue the process of modernizing and centralizing the French state which had begun under Louis XIV. He believed the failure of the Revolution came from the inexperience of the deputies who were too wedded to abstract Enlightenment ideals.
Tocqueville was a classical liberal who advocated parliamentary government and was skeptical of the extremes of majoritarianism. During his time in parliament, he was first a member of the centre-left before moving to the centre-right, and the complex and restless nature of his liberalism has led to contrasting interpretations and admirers across the political spectrum.
Tocqueville was active in French politics, first under the July Monarchy (1830–1848) and then during the Second Republic (1849–1851) which succeeded the February 1848 Revolution. He retired from political life after Louis Napoléon Bonaparte's 2 December 1851 coup and thereafter began work on The Old Regime and the Revolution. Tocqueville argued the importance of the French Revolution was to continue the process of modernizing and centralizing the French state which had begun under Louis XIV. He believed the failure of the Revolution came from the inexperience of the deputies who were too wedded to abstract Enlightenment ideals.
Tocqueville was a classical liberal who advocated parliamentary government and was skeptical of the extremes of majoritarianism. During his time in parliament, he was first a member of the centre-left before moving to the centre-right, and the complex and restless nature of his liberalism has led to contrasting interpretations and admirers across the political spectrum.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 27, 2022
More important than you might think
When I first heard mentions of this work, it’s content sounded important yet dull. Nothing could be further from the truth. For those who seek to understand our age - still within the bounds of what the author classed as Democratic - Tocqueville’s books are indispensable. Despite their presentation as a “travelers memoirs,” Tocqueville’s accounts are not really describing as much as they are penetrating at the psychological core of equality. What are the consequences of being convenced that “all men are equal?” How is literature and science affected? What are the dangers of this mindset and how are we to mitigate it. Those questions are, today, as burning as ever.
When I first heard mentions of this work, it’s content sounded important yet dull. Nothing could be further from the truth. For those who seek to understand our age - still within the bounds of what the author classed as Democratic - Tocqueville’s books are indispensable. Despite their presentation as a “travelers memoirs,” Tocqueville’s accounts are not really describing as much as they are penetrating at the psychological core of equality. What are the consequences of being convenced that “all men are equal?” How is literature and science affected? What are the dangers of this mindset and how are we to mitigate it. Those questions are, today, as burning as ever.
July 9, 2023
The numerous references made to this book induced me to finally pick it up. I'm thrilled I did.
Perhaps it's the distance as a French citizen that sets up Tocqueville to make such insightful synthesis from his observations of the U.S.. Despite nearly 200 years passing, the majority of the conclusions Tocqueville makes still seem to hold. He makes very few actual predictions, but these, on almost all counts have come to pass as well. He predicted that the actions of the US and Russia in the 1830s would end in their inevitable conflict.
There's an almost astrological reading type of feel to the writing in places. Tocqueville talks in broad strokes that would seem natural to any country if he didn't so effectively point out how such behaviors departed from aristocracies.
This book gave me a surprising amount of work thoughts as notes about certain aristocratic behaviors felt eerily reminiscent of experiences I've had. That's not entirely cynical as Tocqueville does an excellent job of pointing out the positives of such governments. He eventually points out himself the similarity industrial companies have to a particularly callous style of aristocracy.
The second volume focuses on the effects of a cultural value of equality - a nascent idea of the time. At one point Tocqueville stresses that the value of equality is remarkably divorced from what that equality entails and that in particular people appear remarkably willing to give up freedoms for equality. He goes on to effectively describe the grave risk that a tyrant would opportunistically leverage rhetoric around equality to seize power. Such a person would make populist claims to be acting for the equality of all. This is eerily descriptive of communism in practice, but a few years before the word communism is first used.
This rather long text is broken up into a few parts. Volume I is the bulk of the dive into American Democracy with large pay off. That volume made this a 5 star read. Volume II is much more speculative and abstract. It has a quite different feel which didn't quite measure up to volume I (it was also written 5 years later).
Perhaps it's the distance as a French citizen that sets up Tocqueville to make such insightful synthesis from his observations of the U.S.. Despite nearly 200 years passing, the majority of the conclusions Tocqueville makes still seem to hold. He makes very few actual predictions, but these, on almost all counts have come to pass as well. He predicted that the actions of the US and Russia in the 1830s would end in their inevitable conflict.
There's an almost astrological reading type of feel to the writing in places. Tocqueville talks in broad strokes that would seem natural to any country if he didn't so effectively point out how such behaviors departed from aristocracies.
This book gave me a surprising amount of work thoughts as notes about certain aristocratic behaviors felt eerily reminiscent of experiences I've had. That's not entirely cynical as Tocqueville does an excellent job of pointing out the positives of such governments. He eventually points out himself the similarity industrial companies have to a particularly callous style of aristocracy.
The second volume focuses on the effects of a cultural value of equality - a nascent idea of the time. At one point Tocqueville stresses that the value of equality is remarkably divorced from what that equality entails and that in particular people appear remarkably willing to give up freedoms for equality. He goes on to effectively describe the grave risk that a tyrant would opportunistically leverage rhetoric around equality to seize power. Such a person would make populist claims to be acting for the equality of all. This is eerily descriptive of communism in practice, but a few years before the word communism is first used.
This rather long text is broken up into a few parts. Volume I is the bulk of the dive into American Democracy with large pay off. That volume made this a 5 star read. Volume II is much more speculative and abstract. It has a quite different feel which didn't quite measure up to volume I (it was also written 5 years later).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews