Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville portrays Tocqueville’s own observations of the United States during his visit in 1831. Originally the purpose of his travels was to study the prison systems of the United States, but by the time he returned to France he had many ideas of how Europe could learn from the United States. Tocqueville examined the structure and function of democracy in the United States, and after reading his accounts it is clear that he supports rule of the people. For the
Though Tocqueville does not accept individualism but only up to a certain point that it offers freedom of thoughts through the recognition of individual’s sovereignty. Hence, he views individualism as a more tamed and civilized version of egoism. Overall, Tocqueville does not favor individualism other than free thinking because it makes people to be independent and the recognition of individual’s rights arises people to yield to their own self-interest. As Tocqueville states, “when the duties of
Modern Social Theory Section B1 Prompt C Title: Tocqueville and Marx as modern social theorists Modern social theory arose as a response to the changes in society, sparked particularly by the French Revolution. The accomplishments from the French Revolution laid the very framework in which societies was thrust into the modern. Alexis De Tocqueville and Karl Marx were the few theorists at the forefront whose writings embody the spirit of modernity. Tocqueville and Marx had the immaculate ability to grasp
The Impossibility of a Flawless Government Alexis Tocqueville, a world famous critic of the democratic government once stated, “To love democracy well, one must love it moderately.” Democracy is a system that cannot be forced onto people with extreme measures, nor neglected by its followers; it thrives on a happy medium between obsession and apathy. To fully understand the greatness of such a form of government, one must allow themselves to take into account and accept all of its defects. American
mid eighteen hundreds (Bartlett). Tocqueville was a French aristocrat who came to America in 1931. His book discussed issues such as money, press, religion, racism, and the role of government in the United States (All About). Bartlett also discusses some of these same issues in The American Mind in the Mid-Nineteenth Century, which is why Tocqueville's work is a good reference for him. There are four main points in Bartlett's book. The first point is how religion influenced the thoughts of Americans
Americans today are only vaguely familiar with the concept of civil rights and civil liberties. Are they the same thing or are they completely different? Rights and liberties are used interchangeably in today’s society, but there is a difference between the two. Being Native American, and considered a minority, in the United States I see both Civil Rights and Civil Liberties as equally important. Both liberties and rights are used in the Declaration of Independence and in the Bill of Rights. However
International literature about citizen participation was weak in the 1950s but in no time it expanded and flourished starting from the 60s and 70s, and it is still growing enormously over the years. most of the theorists, economist, sociologists and philosophers turned their attention to the concept of citizen participation. the concept of participation in development is old but it has evolved with time to be included in development projects. According to Day (1997) citizen participation programs