Alexis De Tocqueville

Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville. In the eleven years that separated the Declaration of the Independence of the United States from the completion of that act in the ordination of our written Constitution, the great minds of America were bent upon the study of the principles of government that were essential to the preservation of the liberties which had been won at great cost and with heroic labors and sacrifices. Their studies were conducted in view of the imperfections that experience had developed in the government of the Confederation, and they were, therefore, practical and thorough. When the Constitution was thus perfected and established, a new form of government was created, but it was neither speculative nor experimental as to the principles on which it was based. If they were true principles, as they were, the government founded upon them was destined to a life and an influence that would continue while the liberties it was intended to preserve should be valued by the human family. Those liberties had been wrung from reluctant monarchs in many contests, in many countries, and were grouped into creeds and established in ordinances sealed with blood, in many great struggles of the people. They were not new to the people. They were consecrated theories, but no government had been previously established for the great purpose of their preservation and enforcement. That which was experimental in our plan of government was the question whether democratic rule could be so organized and conducted that it would not degenerate into license and result in the tyranny of absolutism, without saving to the people the power so often found necessary of repressing or destroying their enemy, when he was found in the person of a single despot.

Reproduction of the original: The State of Society in France before the Revolution of 1789 and the Causes which led to that Event by Alexis de Tocqueville

Reproduction of the original: American Institutions and Their Influence by Alexis de Tocqueville

Reproduction of the original: The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville by Alexis de Tocqueville

Reproduction of the original: Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

Reproduction of the original: Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

Reproduction of the original: Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

Reproduction of the original: American Institutions and Their Influence by Alexis de Tocqueville

Reproduction of the original: Correspondence & Conversations of Alexis de Tocqueville with Nassau William Senior from 1834 to 1859 by Alexis de Tocqueville

Reproduction of the original: The State of Society in France before the Revolution of 1789 and the Causes which led to that Event by Alexis de Tocqueville

Reproduction of the original: Correspondence & Conversations of Alexis de Tocqueville with Nassau William Senior from 1834 to 1859 by Alexis de Tocqueville

Reproduction of the original: The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville by Alexis de Tocqueville

Reproduction of the original: Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America (De la d mocratie en Am rique) is a classic text detailing the United States of the 1830s, showing a primarily favorable view by Tocqueville as he compares it to his native France. Considered to be an important account of the U. S. democratic system, it has become a classic work in the fields of political science and history. It quickly became popular in both the United States and Europe. Democracy in America was first published as two volumes, one in 1835 and the other in 1840; both are included in this edition.

Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America (De la d mocratie en Am rique) is a classic text detailing the United States of the 1830s, showing a primarily favorable view by Tocqueville as he compares it to his native France. Considered to be an important account of the U. S. democratic system, it has become a classic work in the fields of political science and history. It quickly became popular in both the United States and Europe. Democracy in America was first published as two volumes, one in 1835 and the other in 1840; both are included in this edition.

This extraordinary series of observations on England and Ireland complements de Tocqueville's masterpieces on the United States and France in the mid-nineteenth century. These pages are perhaps the most penetrating writings on the spirit of British politics. In effect, as indicated by John Stuart Mill, de Tocqueville was the Montesquieu of the nineteenth century. This is especially the case if one thinks of the present Irish situation. His political acumen reached into the future -which is now our present.

Demokrati i Amerika er et idéhistorisk hovedværk, der giver den historiske baggrund for det amerikanske demokrati. Nu genudgives den anmelderroste oversættelse i et tobindsværk med nyt forord af Rune Lykkeberg. I 1831 rejste den unge, franske aristokrat Alexis de Tocqueville rundt i USA. Demokrati i Amerika er resultatet af hans undersøgelser af det amerikanske samfund og det spirende, amerikanske demokrati. Tocqueville var overbevist om, at de fremherskende lighedsprincipper afspejlede tidsånden, og han forudså, at det gamle Europa havde samme udvikling i vente. Demokrati i Amerika er et imponerende studie af styrker og svagheder i det demokratiske system. Tocqueville afviste ikke demokratiet, men var dybt skeptisk over for den demokratiske fare for flertalstyranni og populisme. En af hans centrale indsigter er, at demokrati ikke kun skal studeres i de politiske institutioner, men lige så meget i vaner og skikke. Det er den demokratiske livsform, som Tocqueville både fascineres og anfægtes af.

Tocqueville was not only an active participant in the French Revolution of 1848, he was also a deeply perceptive observer with a detached attitude of mind. He saw the pitfalls of the course his country was taking more clearly than any of his contemporaries, including Karl Marx. Recollections was first written for self-clarification. It is both an exciting, candid, behind-the-scenes account of what actually happened during those tumultuous months and a remarkably shrewd analysis that has become an accurate forecast of future societies wrestling with the dilemma of synthesizing equality and freedom. Thus the book has a relevance that extends beyond France, to our own country and others, a relevance that is explored in J. P. Mayer's new introduction. Out of print in English for several years, Recollections is presented here in a translation based on the definitive French edition of 1964. It captures the wit and subtlety of mind that have made this book one of the most popular of all Tocqueville's works. Tocqueville's own comments, which he wrote into the manuscript, including his variants, are given, and the editors have added explanatory notes.