‘Democracy in America’ (published originally in France as ‘De la démocratie en Amérique’) is a treatise on the American system of government as written by Alexis de Tocqueville, a French aristocrat and political scholar. Since its appearance (in two volumes) in 1835 and 1840, it has been hailed as one of the most insightful and brilliant works on the American experiment; a deep dive into the founding of the United States, implementation of the Constitution and the challenges still facing this young nation.
In addition to describing and examining the American government itself, de Tocqueville also addresses the plight of women in society, the scourge of slavery, and the ill treatment of native Americans, among many other topics. He warns of potential dangers (‘soft despotism’) and particularly cautions against what he calls the ‘tyranny of the majority’ where a large segment of the population designs laws purely for their own benefit and at the expense of minority factions.
For almost two centuries, ‘Democracy in America’ has stood as a unique and penetrating examination of a nation still finding its way forward as it attempts to fulfill its promise as a beacon of democracy and freedom.
This edition is presented unabridged with annotations by translator Henry Reeve, Esq. and a brief biography of the author.
عن المؤلف
Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (1805-1859) was a French aristocrat, sociologist, political scientist and philosopher, diplomat and historian. His best known works are ‘Democracy in America’ (which appeared as two volumes in 1835 and 1840) and ‘The Old Regime and the Revolution’ (1856). A politician in France and a member of the aristocracy, Tocqueville’s wide travels brought him into contact with a number of different political and social systems – many of which he wrote about and examined – but it was his trip to North America and his observations of America democracy that led him to pen ‘Democracy in America’ wherein he described the American system of government and the manner in which the United States had transitioned from a monarchical colony to an independence free state. (It was thought that Tocqueville wrote the book to assist France in making the same transition.) He was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly following the French Revolution of 1848 and helped to draft the Constitution of the Second Republic. Tocqueville contracted tuberculosis and died in 1859 at the age of fifty-three.
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