9780451528124

The complete edition based on the revised and corrected text of the 1961 French edition Originally penned in the mid-eighteenth century by Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America remains the most penetrating and astute picture of American life, politics, and morals ever written, as relevant today as when it first appeared in print nearly two hundred years ago. This edition, meticulously edited by the distinguished de Tocqueville scholar J. P. Mayer, is widely recognized as the preeminent translation.

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Alexis de Tocqueville was born in 1805 to a noble French family that had survived the French Revolution. His father gained some political power under the reign of the Bourbons, and after the July Revolution of 1830, the family was exiled along with the king. Tocqueville, then twenty-five years old, stayed in France, swearing allegiance to the new government. Shortly thereafter he and a friend, Gustave de Beaumont, sought and received a government assignment to study the prison system of the United States. They arrived in America in 1831. After extensive travels across the young nation, Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America (published in two volumes in 1835 and 1840). The publication of the first volume made Tocqueville a well-known figure, but he led a quiet life, accepting modest governmental posts, traveling around Europe, and marrying an Englishwoman. In 1848, Tocqueville once again rose to political prominence after a prescient speech that foretold of revolution. After serving through the massive upheavals and overthrows of government, Tocqueville retired from political life in 1849. Always weak in health, his lung disease grew progressively worse from that period on. Moving south several times on doctor’s recommendations, Tocqueville succumbed to death in 1859, in Cannes.
Richard D. Heffner received his A.B. and M.A. from Columbia University and has taught history and political science at the University of California, Sarah Lawrence College, and the New School for Social Research. He has been University Professor of Communications and Public Policy at Rutgers since 1964. Mr. Heffner also produces and moderates his prize-winning weekly public television series, The Open Mind, and for twenty years was Chairman of the motion picture industry’s film rating system. In addition to Democracy in America, Mr. Heffner is the editor of the Mentor book A Documentary History of the United States.

Introduction	p. 9
Author's Introduction	p. 26

Origin of the Anglo-Americans (II)	p. 39
Democratic Social Condition of the Anglo-Americans (III)	p. 49
The Sovereignty of the People in America (IV)	p. 55
Local Government (V)	p. 58
Decentralization in America--Its Effects (V)	p. 62
Judicial Power in the United States, and Its Influence on Political Society (VI)	p. 72
Aspects of the Federal Constitution (VIII)	p. 77
Political Parties (IX, X)	p. 87
Liberty of the Press in the United States (XI)	p. 91
Political Associations in the United States (XII)	p. 95
Advantages of Democracy in the United States (XIV)	p. 100
Unlimited Power of the Majority in the United States and Its Consequences (XV)	p. 111
Causes Which Mitigate the Tyranny of the Majority in the United States (XVI)	p. 121
Causes Which Tend to Maintain Democracy (XVII)	p. 128
Future Prospects of the United States (XVIII)	p. 137

Influence of Democracy Upon the Action of Intellect in the United States
Philosophical Method of the Americans (I, II)	p. 143
Influence of Democracy on Religion (V, VI)	p. 150
Equality Suggests to the Americans the Idea of the Indefinite Perfectibility of Man (VIII)	p. 156
The Example of the Americans Does Not Prove That a Democratic People Can Have No Aptitude and No Taste for Science, Literature, or Art (IX)	p. 158
Why the Americans Are More Addicted to Practical than to Theoretical Science (X)	p. 163
In What Spirit the Americans Cultivate the Arts (XI)	p. 168
Literary Characteristics of Democratic Times (XIII)	p. 173
Of Some Sources of Poetry Amongst Democratic Nations (XVII)	p. 178
Why American Writers and Orators Often Use an Inflated Style (XVIII)	p. 183
Some Characteristics of Historians in Democratic Times (XX)	p. 184
Influence of Democracy on the Feelings of the Americans
Why Democratic Nations Show a More Ardent and Enduring Love of Equality than of Liberty (I)	p. 189
Of Individualism in Democratic Countries (II)	p. 192
That the Americans Combat the Effects of Individualism by Free Institutions (IV)	p. 194
Of the Use Which the Americans Make of Public Associations in Civil Life (V)	p. 198
Of the Relation Between Public Associations and the Newspapers (VI)	p. 202
Relation of Civil to Political Associations (VII)	p. 205
Of the Taste for Physical Well-Being in America (XI)	p. 209
What Causes Almost All Americans to Follow Industrial Callings (XIX)	p. 213
How an Aristocracy May Be Created by Manufactures (XX)	p. 216
Influence of Democracy on Manners Properly So Called
How Democracy Renders the Habitual Intercourse of the Americans Simple and Easy (II)	p. 221
Why the Americans Show So Little Sensitiveness in Their Own Country, and Are So Sensitive in Europe (III)	p. 223
Influence of Democracy on Wages (VII)	p. 226
Influence of Democracy on the Family (VIII)	p. 228
Young Women in a Democracy (IX, X)	p. 233
How Equality of Condition Contributes to Maintain Good Morals in America (XI)	p. 237
How the Americans Understand the Equality of the Sexes (XII)	p. 243
How the Principle of Equality Naturally Divides the Americans into a Multitude of Small Private Circles (XIII)	p. 246
Some Reflections on American Manners (XIV)	p. 248
Why the National Vanity of the Americans Is More Restless and Captious than that of the English (XVI)	p. 251
How the Aspect of Society in the United States Is at Once Excited and Monotonous (XVII)	p. 253
Why So Many Ambitious Men and So Little Lofty Ambition Are to Be Found in the United States (XIX)	p. 255
The Trade of Place-Hunting in Certain Democratic Countries (XX)	p. 260
Why Great Revolutions Will Become More Rare (XXI)	p. 262
Why Democratic Nations Are Naturally Desirous of Peace, and Democratic Armies of War (XXII)	p. 273
Causes Which Render Democratic Armies Weaker than Other Armies at the Outset of a Campaign, and More Formidable in Protracted Warfare (XXIV)	p. 279
Some Considerations on War in Democratic Communities (XXVI)	p. 283
Influence of Democratic Ideas and Feelings on Political Society
Equality Naturally Gives Men a Taste for Free Institutions (I)	p. 289
That the Opinions of Democratic Nations About Government Are Naturally Favorable to the Concentration of Power (II)	p. 290
That the Sentiments of Democratic Nations Accord with Their Opinions in Leading Them to Concentrate Political Power (III)	p. 293
Of Certain Peculiar and Accidental Causes, Which Either Lead a People to Complete the Centralization of Government, or Which Divert Them from It (IV)	p. 296
What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear (VI)	p. 301
General Survey of the Subject (VIII)	p. 314
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Democracy in America

Democracy in America

0451528123

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

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