de Tocqueville
May 10, 2023•1,154 words
Life
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805 – 1859)
- Key events
- Born just before Napoleon crowned Emperor (1804)
- 1815: Restoration of Bourbon monarchy, end of Napoleon
- Congress of Vienna: restore l’ancien regime
- Restoration was a failure, ideas already spread
- 1830: July Revolution, overthrow of Bourbns
- 1848: Another revolutions, Orleans overthrown
- De Tocqueville was a member of parliament at this time
- He believed in the transition towards a republic or parliamentary democracy
- Elections had to be organized, the man elected hardly spoke French and had little reputation, it was Napoleon III, the nephew of Napoleon
- 1848 - 1860: Napoleon III reign
- He took power un a coup, refused new elections
- De Tocqueville was disappointed, put in prison for his opposition
- America was seen as a successful revolution,, and was used as a model for liberals like De Toqueville
- Family
- Born into an aristocratic family, noble background
- Family suffered and fled after the revolution
- Family traced its origins to the Battle of Hastings
- Parents escaped guillotine in the French Rev
Early life
- Parents supported the monarchy
- 1826: Father becomes a prefect, his son gets an apprentice magistrate position
- 1829 - 1830: He is influenced by statesman Francois Guizot
- 1830: Charles X abdicates
- Studied philosophy in Metz and law in Paris
- Became a magistrate, tired out legal work
- 1831: King Louis-Philippe commissioned him and his friend Gustave de Beaumont to study prison conditions in the U.S
- 1831-1832: Travels to the US with Beaumont to study prison reform in America, he ends up studying the government and society
This experience was important for his masterpiece Democracy in America (1835 - 1840)
Career
- 1839: Elected into chamber: Served as deputy and sometimes advisor to Louis-Philippe during the July Monarchy
- Warned his fellow deputies of the impending revolution
- After the revolution of 1848, he agreed to serve in the Second Republic
- Supported the gov side in small civil war “June days” of 1848, workers demanded a radical socialist republic
- Supported candidate that put down the rebellion in the presidential election of 1848
- Became a minister under the Louis-Napoleon
- Briefly was minister of Foreign affairs, where he advised against hasty attempts to regain pre-1815 French territory
- Briefly imprisoned after Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte’s coup in 1851 for his opposition
- Refused to take an oath of allegiance to Bonaparte and retired
- Devoted his remaining years to writing, particularly his unfinished second masterwork The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856)
- Recollection sof the French Revolution of 1848 is published after his death
Philosophy
Government
- Foundation
- There is debate whether liberal theory needs a “foundation”
- De Tocqueville takes an anti-foundational side
- Does not mention the state of nature, which was the standard foundation for 17th century liberalism
- Does not refer to the Declaration of Independence in Democracy in America
- Believed religion was essential to political liberty because of “certain fixed ideas” that constituted foundation for gov
- Religion to him means revealed relation, not a rational or natural religion
Democracy
- Democracy and equality were inevitable but feared their coming
- Democracy had to be molded through enlightened leadership
- Unchecked, it leads to lives guided by soft despotism of the state
- Self interest could be dangerous:
In America, the individual understands that his own interest is bound up with that of his fellows and of society as a whole. He realizes that he will prosper if the laws are upheld and freedom respected — that he will suffer, in the most direct and personal way, from the breakdown of order or despotic government.”
- It is a way of life and mentality, not just a form of government
- Leads to the development of equality
- Equality of conditions: prevalent in American society, one of the most significant components of American society
- Self interests, even when enlightened does not threaten freedom
- The lowering of aspiration is the decay of a democracy
- Religion could supplement democracy
Threats to democracy
- Individualism is lost in an equal society, linked to political apathy he observed
- Centralized gov can abuse its power, education is important for dignity and sense of freedom
Tyranny of the majority
- Courts, rulers, laws, dependent on the majority
- Even among equals, there can be abuses of power
- Unlimited power is bad, even in the hands of the people
- Excessive freedom and absolute freedom causes the suppression of the minority by the majority
Religion
- Opposed divine right in politics
- Proponent of separation of Church and state
- Praised Puritans as being the “point of departure” for democracy in America but criticized their theocratic character
- He abandons his faith in his youth, supposedly after reading 18th century materialist work in his father’s library
- Politicians should act as if they believed in religion and act morally
Democracy
- Important principles
- Liberty
- Egality
- Individualism
- Populism
- Laissez-faire
- American society
- More egalitarian than Europe
- He noticed in America there were less distinct class differences
- Thee was social mobility and mentality that no one was stuck in their situation
- There was no American aristocracy
- Money was the dominant ethic
- This is the idea of the American dream
Dangerous to democracy
- Soft despotism: despotism exercised by those that influence politics, loss of individual power
- Tyranny of the majority: a man has many masters, little personal influence
- Majority constitutes morality
- Public opinion is tyrannical: is it really the majority?
- Majority can suppress those that merit power, the wise
- However, the less educated do not vote as much
- Individualism
- Out of competition in society, it creates inequality
- Based on the individual, not the group
- Leads to people thinking they do not need government
- Counterbalanced by associations: people interested in local society to improve their community
- Local level association is important for those looking to engage in politics
- Classlessness
- New aristocracy of the manufacturers, based on birth or merit
- Revolution of the rising expectations
- Security, prosperity, freedom
- Politicians make promises they cannot keep
- The idea that government is meant to solve problems is a very western ideal
- Sometimes too ambitious to be fulfilled
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Predictions
- Future belongs to democracies
- West would transitition to democracy
- Cold War
- Predicted that U.S and Russia would become superpowers
- Women’s emancipation
- Cultural gap between north and south
- Islam
- In contrast to democracy
- Islamic states will not become democratic
- Individualism
- Materialistic society
Impact
- Also significant in comparative politics
- Influence liberalism and political thinking