Tocqueville

James T. Schleifer

• Publisher: Polity
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781509518883, 9781509518876
• eBook ISBN: 9781509518913
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Political Philosophy

Alexis de Tocqueville, a French aristocrat paradoxically famous for his insights into democracy and equality, is one of history's greatest analysts of American society and politics. His contributions to political theory and sociology are of enduring significance. This book, from one of the world's leading experts, is a clearly written and accessible introduction to Tocqueville's social and political theories. Schleifer guides readers through his two major works, Democracy in America (1835/40) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856), as well as his working papers, correspondence, and other writings. Schleifer examines Tocqueville's essential themes and explores the various meanings of his key terms, including equality, democracy, liberty, and revolution. He combines a skillful exposition of Tocqueville's analysis of the beneficial and harmful consequences of democracy with a crystal clear discussion of his often overlooked economic ideas and social reform proposals. Schleifer traces both the overall unity and the significant changes in Tocqueville's ideas, demonstrating the complexity and subtlety of his thought and the importance of his legacy. It will be essential reading for all scholars, students, and general readers interested in the history of political thought, political theory, American politics, and sociology.

1
Alexis de Tocqueville: A Brief Biography

Time of Preparation (1805–30)

With several good biographical treatments already available, we do not need to recount Alexis de Tocqueville's life in detail here.¹ A brief outline of his biography will serve our purposes. Tocqueville (1805–59) was born into an old aristocratic family, deeply rooted in Normandy, staunchly royalist in politics, and devoutly Catholic in religion. Several members of the family had been imprisoned and guillotined during the French Revolution, and Tocqueville's own mother and father, also thrown into prison, had escaped execution only because of the abrupt end of the Terror in 1794. His mother never completely recovered physically or psychologically from her own imprisonment and the loss of so many close relatives. Constant reminders at home of the violence and excesses of the Revolution and the abiding grief meant that Tocqueville would always be mindful of that period.

His background provided him as well with another more positive heritage. If he was always aware of the grim personal toll of the Revolution, he also cherished the example of the notable historical role played by his maternal great-grandfather, Malesherbes, who had served as an advisor to Louis XVI and had then stepped forward in 1793 to defend his king on trial. This doomed gesture of loyalty led to the arrest of many family members and to Malesherbes's own execution in 1794. During the Restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, from 1814 to 1830, Tocqueville's own father, Hervé de Tocqueville, had a distinguished public career as prefect of various departments in northern France. So Tocqueville's background provided him not only with an initial conservative impulse and a fierce rejection of revolutionary extremism, but also with a deep commitment to public service and a lasting desire to have a significant place in the political world. This dual inheritance would mark Tocqueville's life and work in many ways.

By the late 1820s, a number of Tocqueville's earlier ideas and beliefs had changed considerably. In 1821, while living with his father in Metz, he read Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire, and other Enlightenment authors and experienced what he later called an intellectual earthquake that collapsed his adolescent certainties of faith and left him in a permanent state of doubt. After completing his secondary education, Tocqueville pursued the study of law in Paris, where he became aware of the different social and political theories that were part of the French intellectual ferment of the 1820s, which we will discuss later in this chapter. Tocqueville's legal training influenced his continuing interest in certain topics and, to some degree, his methods of analysis. Tocqueville the lawyer is visible throughout his writings, especially in the notes, drafts, and texts of Democracy in America and The Old Regime.

In 1827, Tocqueville began his career, becoming juge auditeur in Versailles. Although the law was not truly suited to his temperament, his time as a young lawyer resulted in several important friendships, particularly his close bond with his colleague, Gustave de Beaumont. Though very different personalities, Tocqueville and Beaumont had similar intellectual interests and political ambitions. Later, they would travel together to North America, England, and Ireland, share writing projects, and, except for a brief period in the 1840s, remain lifelong friends. As young lawyers, they began a study of political economy by reading Jean-Baptiste Say, and in 1829 and 1830 they attended some of François Guizot's lectures on French civilization at the Sorbonne.

Tocqueville was especially fascinated by the scope of Guizot's approach to the study of history. A passage from his notes on one of Guizot's lectures foreshadows the broad and inclusive treatment of society, politics, and culture that would characterize both Democracy in America and The Old Regime: “The history of civilization … should … try to embrace everything simultaneously. Man is to be examined in all aspects of his social existence. History must follow the course of his intellectual development in his deeds, his customs, his opinions, his laws, and the monuments of his intelligence. … In a word, it is the whole of man during a given period that must be portrayed.”²

Significantly, by 1829 Tocqueville already had in mind an underlying reason for examining the development of civilization. He announced the goal to Beaumont: “What we must fashion in ourselves is the political man [homme politique]. And to do this, we have to study the history of mankind.”³ The family tradition of public life was not forgotten.

The Making of Democracy in America (1830–40)

In July 1830, Tocqueville witnessed yet another revolution in France. The July Revolution put an end to the Bourbon Restoration and ushered in the constitutional July Monarchy, headed by Louis-Philippe, king of the French. Despite his disapproval of the new regime, Tocqueville agreed to swear a required oath of allegiance. But as a member of a family of traditional royalists, he realized that his position was nonetheless compromised. He and Beaumont decided therefore to remove themselves temporarily from the French political scene. The idea of visiting the American republic had attracted Tocqueville for at least a year. So now the two friends conceived the plan of proposing an official eighteen-month mission to the United States to study the American penitentiary system, then at the forefront of prison reform. Hidden behind this project were the desire “to see what a great republic is” and the idea of writing a joint work on America that would draw public attention to the young authors and perhaps lead to more promising future careers.⁴

The French government accepted their proposal, and the two friends left for the New World on April 2, 1831, where they remained for nine months. Although their stay was ultimately shorter than they had planned, they traveled extensively throughout North America. After staying in New York City, they crossed New York State, explored the Great Lakes, visited what was then the frontier in Michigan, spent several days in Montreal and Quebec, journeyed to Boston, then to Philadelphia and Baltimore, headed west to Pittsburgh, went down the Ohio to Cincinnati and Louisville and overland to Memphis, descended the Mississippi to New Orleans, traveled rapidly across the South and back up to Washington, DC, before returning to New York. They sailed for France on February 20, 1832.⁵ Their final itinerary was shaped in part by their need to visit certain penitentiaries, by a few impulsive decisions...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Classic Thinkers
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Acknowledgments
• Dedication
• Introduction: Tocqueville's Basic Message and His Intellectual Journey
• 1: Alexis de Tocqueville: A Brief Biography
• 2: First Principles
• 3: Major Themes: Equality, Democracy, Liberty, and Revolution
• 4: Consequences of Democracy: How Does Democracy Change Society?
• 5: Proposed Remedies: What Is To Be Done?
• 6: Economic Ideas and Social Reform
• 7: Tocqueville's Reputation and Continuing Relevance
• Conclusion
• Suggestions for Further Reading
• Works Cited and Consulted
• Index
• End User License Agreement