Democracy in America
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This article is about the book written by Tocqueville. For the actual system of government of the United States, see Politics of the United States.
 | This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. (September 2014) |
Title page, Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, printed at New York, 1838.
| |
| Author | Alexis de Tocqueville |
|---|---|
| Original title | De la démocratie en Amérique |
| Language | French |
| Publisher | Saunders and Otley (London) |
Publication date
| 1835–1840 |
De la démocratie en Amérique (French pronunciation: [dəla demɔkʁasi ɑ̃n‿ameˈʁik]; published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840) is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville. Its title translates as Of Democracy in America, but English translations are usually entitled simply Democracy in America. In the book, Tocqueville examines the democratic revolution that he believed had been occurring over the past seven hundred years.
In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont were sent by the French government to study the American prison system. In his later letters Tocqueville indicates that he and Beaumont used their official business as a pretext to study American society instead.[1] They arrived in New York City in May of that year and spent nine months traveling the United States, studying the prisons, and collecting information on American society, including its religious, political, and economic character. The two also briefly visited Canada, spending a few days in the summer of 1831 in what was then Lower Canada (modern-day Quebec) and Upper Canada (modern-dayOntario).
After they returned to France in February 1832, Tocqueville and Beaumont submitted their report, Du système pénitentiaire aux États-Unis et de son application en France, in 1833. When the first edition was published, Beaumont, sympathetic to social justice, was working on another book, Marie, ou, L'esclavage aux Etats-Unis (two volumes, 1835), a social critique and novel describing the separation of races in a moral society and the conditions of slaves in the United States. Before finishingDemocracy in America, Tocqueville believed that Beaumont's study of the United States would prove more comprehensive and penetrating.[2]
Contents
[hide]Purpose of Democracy in America[edit]
Tocqueville begins his book by describing the change in social conditions taking place. He observed that over the previous seven hundred years the social and economic conditions of men had become more equal. The aristocracy, Tocqueville believed, was gradually disappearing as the modern world experienced the beneficial effects of equality. Tocqueville traced the development of equality to a number of factors, such as granting all men permission to enter the clergy, widespread economic opportunity resulting from the growth of trade and commerce, the royal sale of titles of nobility as a monarchical fundraising tool, and the abolition of primogeniture.[3]
Tocqueville described this revolution as a "providential fact"[3] of an "irresistible revolution," leading some to criticize the determinism found in the book. However, based on Tocqueville's correspondences with friends and colleagues, Marvin Zetterbaum, Professor Emeritus at University of California Davis, concludes that the Frenchman never accepted democracy as determined or inevitable. He did, however, consider equality more just and therefore found himself among its partisans.[4]
Given the social state that was emerging, Tocqueville believed that a "new political science" would be needed. According to him, it would also:
The remainder of the book can be interpreted as an attempt to accomplish this goal thereby giving advice to those people who would experience this change in social states.
Main themes[edit]
| This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. (September 2011) |
The Puritan Founding[edit]
Tocqueville begins his study of America by explaining the contribution of the Puritans. According to him, the Puritans established America's democratic social state of equality. They arrived equals in education and were all middle class. In addition, Tocqueville observes that they contributed a synthesis of religion and political liberty in America that was uncommon in Europe, particularly in France. He calls the Puritan Founding the "seed" of his entire work.
The Federal Constitution[edit]
Tocqueville believed that the Puritans established the principle of sovereignty of the people in the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. The American Revolution then popularized this principle, followed by theConstitutional Convention of 1787, which developed institutions to manage popular will. While Tocqueville speaks highly of the America's Constitution, he believes that the mores, or "habits of mind" of the American people play a more prominent role in the protection of freedom.
- Township democracy
- Mores, Laws, and Circumstances
- Tyranny of the Majority
- Religion and beliefs
- The Family [how American were in that century and their interactions]
- Individualism [later this influenced writers in the Renaissance Era]
- Associations
- Self-Interest Rightly Understood
- Materialism
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