Foreword Preface
A Note about the Text and Translation
List of Illustrations
PART ONE
Introduction: Tocqueville and His Tour de Force
Tocqueville’s Life and Character
The Journey in America
Content and Key Themes of the Work
How
Democracy in America Was Received
The Relevance and Legacy of
Democracy in America PART TWO Democracy in America Volume I Author’s Introduction
Part I - America’s Founding and Its Importance for the Future of Anglo-Americans
- Anglo-American Social Conditions
- The Principle of the sovereignty of the People in America
- The Need to Examine What Happens in Individual States Before Discussing the Government of the Whole
Part II
- Why It Is Accurate To Say That In The United States, The People Govern
- The Real Advantages Derived By American Society From Democratic Government
- The Omnipotence of the Majority in the United States and Its Consequences
- What tempers the Tyranny of the Majority
- The Principal Causes Tending to Preserve a Democratic Republic in the United States
- A Few Remarks on Present and Probable Future Conditions of the Three Races Living Within the United States
Volume II
Preface
Part I: The Influence of Democracy Upon the Intellectual Development of the United States
- The Principal Source of Beliefs Among Democratic Countries
- The Spirit in which Americans Cultivate the Arts
- Literary Production
- Certain Characteristics of Historians in Democratic Centuries
Part II: Influence of Democracy on the Opinions of Americans
- Individualism in Democratic Society
- Individualism is Greater Following a Democratic Revolution Than In Any Other Period
- Americans Minimize Individualism with Free Institutions
- The Role of Voluntary Associations in America
- The Relationship Between Associations and Newspapers
- Connections Between Voluntary and Political Associations
- Americans Overcome Individualism Through the Doctrine of Self-Interest Well Understood
- The Taste for Material Comfort in America
- Why Americans Appear So Restless Amidst Their Prosperity
- How Americans’ Love of Material Comfort Combines with the Love of Liberty and a Concern for Public Affairs
- How Aristocracy May Result from Industry
Part III: Influence of Democracy on Customs as Such
- Education of Girls in the United States
- The Young Woman as Wife
- How Social Equality Helps Maintain Moral Behavior in America
- What Americans Mean by Equality of Men and Women
- American Society Appears Both Restless and Monotonous
- Why Great Revolutions Will Become Rare
Part IV: The Influence Exercised by Democratic Ideas and Attitudes on Politics
- Equality Naturally Leads to A Desire For Free Institutions
- The Type of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear
- An Overview of the Subject
APPENDIXES A Tocqueville Chronology (1805-1859)
Questions for Consideration
Selected Bibliography
Index