Synopsis
French nobleman Alexis de Tocqueville's classic treatise on the American way of life.
Over 175 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville, an astute political scientist, came to the United States to evaluate the meaning and actual functioning of democracy. Here, Tocqueville discusses the advantages and dangers of majority rule-which he thought could be as tyrannical as the rule of a monarchy. He analyzes the influence of political parties and the press on the government and the effect of equality on the social, political, and economic life of the American people. He also offers some startling predictions about world politics, which history has borne out. So brilliant and penetrating are his comments and criticisms, they have vital meaning today for all who are interested in democracy.
Abridged and with an Introduction by Richard D. Heffner
and an Afterword by Vartan Gregorian
Review
"No better study of a nation's institutions and culture than Tocqueville's Democracy in America has ever been written by a foreign observer; none perhaps as good."
-- The New York Times
Praise for the work of Joseph Epstein:
"Epstein is one of the premier contemporary American essayists...What is so remarkable about Epstein as an essay writer is that he'll begin a discussion at some personal place...and end up in another place relevant to us all. He enjoys making language work, not making it jump through hoops for show."
--Booklist
"Joseph Epstein is an essayist in the brilliant tradition of Charles Lamb. He moves so effortlessly from the amusingly personal to the broadly philosophical that it takes a moment before you realize how far out into the intellectual cosmos you've been taken."
--Tom Wolfe
"Joseph Epstein's essays no more need his identifying byline than Van Gogh's paintings need his signature. Epstein's style--call it learned whimsy--is unmistakable; for Epstein addicts, indispensable."
--George Will
"Joseph Epstein is the liveliest, most erudite and engaging essayist we have."
--James Atlas
"If Epstein's ultimate ancestor is Montaigne, his more immediate master is Mencken. Like Mencken, he has fashioned a style that successfully combines elegance and even bookishness with street-smart colloquial directness. And there is nothing remote or aloof about him."
--John Gross, Chicago Tribune
From America's call for a free press to its embrace of the capitalist system, Democracy in America--first published in 1835--enlightens, entertains, and endures as a brilliant study of our national government and character. Philosopher John Stuart Mill called it "among the most remarkable productions of our time." Woodrow Wilson wrote that de Tocqueville's ability to illuminate the actual workings of American democracy was "possibly without rival."
For today's readers, de Tocqueville's concern about the effect of majority rule on the rights of individuals remains deeply meaningful. His shrewd observations about the "almost royal prerogatives" of the president and the need for virtue in elected officials are particularly prophetic. His profound insights into the great rewards and responsibilities of democratic government are words every American needs to read, contemplate, and remember.
From America's call for a free press to its embrace of the capitalist system Democracy in America enlightens, entertains, and endures as a brilliant study of our national government and character. De Toqueville's concern about the effect of majority rule on the rights of individuals remains deeply meaningful. His insights into the great rewards and responsibilities of democratic government are words every American needs to read, contemplate, and remember.
Democracy in America
A French aristocrat's account of the ways in which democratic ideals were applied in America during the nineteenth century.
A French aristocrat's account of the ways in which democratic ideals were applied in America during the nineteenth century."
Democracies in America
Ask someone their thoughts about "democracy" and you'll get many different responses. Some may presume it a thing once established yet now under threat. Others may believe that democracy has always been compromised by the empowered few. In the contemporary United States, marked by constituencies across the political spectrum believing that their voices have gone unheard, "democracy" gets wielded in so many divergent directions as to be rendered nearly incoherent. Democracies in America reminds us that this reality is nothing new. Focusing on the various meanings of "democracy" that circulated in the long nineteenth century, the book collects twenty-five essays, each taking up a keyword in the language we use to talk about democracy. Penned by a group of diverse intellectuals, the entries tackle terms both commonplace (citizenship and representation) and paradigm-stretching (disgust and sham). The essays thus consider the relationship between "America" and "democracy" from multiple disciplinary angles and from different moments in a major historical period-amidst the vitality of the revolutionary epoch, in the contentious lead-up to the Civil War, and through the triumphs and failures of Reconstruction and the early reforms of the Progressive Era-while making both forward and backward glances in time. The book frames its keywords around a series of enduring democratic dilemmas and questions, and provides extensive resources for further study. Ultimately the volume cultivates, for students and teachers in classrooms, as well as citizens in libraries and cafés, a language to deliberate about the possibilities and problems of democracy in America.
James Madison, Federalist 51, in Clinton Rossiter, ed., The Federalist Papers (New York: Signet Classic , 1999), 319. 7. Ibid., 75. 8. Alexis de Tocqueville , Democracy in America , trans. George Lawrence, ed."
After Patrick Henry
Neal Herrick demonstrates, in a lucid manner, that government corruption is the predominant problem facing society today. Although bribery and influence peddling are the most visible aspect of this corruption, they are not, in Herrick's analysis, the most serious. For Herrick, the more serious aspect of government corruption is the laws that bribery and influence peddling produce-laws that favour the corporations-resulting in, what he calls, a kind of delusional corruption that leads, for example, to unjust and unnecessary wars. Tracing both forms of corruption back through American history, Herrick gives a brief account of governmental descent into lawlessness, identifies the constitutional flaw that led to this lawlessness, and discusses some of the issues that must be considered in devising remedies. Book jacket.
3 ) and Jonathan Schell , Introduction to Hannah Arendt , On Revolution ( Penguin Classics , 2006 ) , p . xxii . 6. Richard D. Heffner , in his introduction to Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America , ( A Signet Classic , 1984 , p ..."
Left Behind
The political and economic history of Latin America has been marked by great hopes and even greater disappointments. Despite abundant resources—and a history of productivity and wealth—in recent decades the region has fallen further and further behind developed nations, surpassed even by other developing economies in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. In Left Behind, Sebastian Edwards explains why the nations of Latin America have failed to share in the fruits of globalization and forcefully highlights the dangers of the recent turn to economic populism in the region. He begins by detailing the many ways Latin American governments have stifled economic development over the years through excessive regulation, currency manipulation, and thoroughgoing corruption. He then turns to the neoliberal reforms of the early 1990s, which called for the elimination of deficits, lowering of trade barriers, and privatization of inefficient public enterprises—and which, Edwards argues, held the promise of freeing Latin America from the burdens of the past. Flawed implementation, however, meant the promised gains of globalization were never felt by the mass of citizens, and growing frustration with stalled progress has led to a resurgence of populism throughout the region, exemplified by the economic policies of Venezuela’sHugo Chávez. But such measures, Edwards warns, are a recipe for disaster; instead, he argues, the way forward for Latin America lies in further market reforms, more honestly pursued and fairly implemented. As an example of the promise of that approach, Edwards points to Latin America's giant, Brazil, which under the successful administration of President Luis Inácio da Silva (Lula) has finally begun to show signs of reaching its true economic potential. As the global financial crisis has reminded us, the risks posed by failing economies extend far beyond their national borders. Putting Latin America back on a path toward sustained growth is crucial not just for the region but for the world, and Left Behind offers a clear, concise blueprint for the way forward.
1998. Progress, Poverty and Exclusion: An Economic History of Latin America in the 20th Century. Washington, D.C.: Inter-American Development Bank. Tocqueville , Alexis de . 1835. Democracy in America . New York: Signet Classics , 2001."
Teaching for Dissent
Teaching for Dissent looks at the implications of new forms of dissent for educational practice. The reappearance of dissent in political meetings and street protests opens new possibilities for improved democratic life and citizen participation. This book argues that this possibility will not be fulfilled if schools do not cultivate the skills necessary for our citizens to engage in political dissent. The authors look at how practices in schools, such as the testing regime and the 'hidden curriculum', suppress students' ability to voice ideas that stand in opposition to the status quo. Teaching for Dissent calls for a realignment of the curriculum and the practices of schooling with a guiding vision of democratic participation.
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. New York: Signet . Classic . Tocqueville , Alexis de . 1965. Democracy in America , ed. Mortimer Adler, Great Books of the Western World. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. Toms, Elaine, and Wendy Duff."
The Roots of Participatory Democracy
This book compares the Communist parties of India and South Africa in their pursuits of socialist democracy. Williams looks at their organizational characteristics, party history, and their competing tendencies, as well as how they have pushed forward their similar ideologies within their unique political and economic environments.
Draft article for the Encyclopedia of American Social Movements, July. Tocqueville , Alexis de . 2001. Democracy in America . New York and London: Signet Classic . Tornquist, Olle. 1991. “Communists and Democracy: Two Indian Cases and One ..."
The Consumer Citizen
Citizens are asked to buy, and asked to consider to buy, goods of all sizes and all prices, nearly all of the time. Appeals to political decision-making are less common. In The Consumer Citizen, Ethan Porter investigates how the techniques of everyday consumer experiences can shape political behavior. Drawing on more than a dozen original studies, he shows that the casual conflation of consumer and political decisions has profound implications for how Americans think about politics. Indeed, Porter explains that consumer habits can affect citizens' attitudes about their government, their taxes, their politicians, and even whether they purchase government-sponsored health insurance. The consumer citizen approaches government as if it were just an ordinary firm. Of course, government is not an ordinary firm---far from it---and the disjunction between what government is, and the consumer apparatus that citizens bring to bear on their evaluations of it, offers insight into several long-unanswered questions in political behavior and public opinion. How do many Americans make sense of the political world? The Consumer Citizen offers a novel answer: By relying on the habits and tools that they learn as consumers.
64 (4): 416–424. Titmuss, Richard. 1958. Essays on the Welfare State. London: Allen Unwin, 1958. Tocqueville , Alexis de . 1835 [2001]. Democracy in America . New York, New York: Signet Classics . Tomz, Michael, and Paul Sniderman. 2005."
Heretics in the Temple
Papke (law and liberal arts, Indiana U.) traces the lineage of legal heretics from 19th-century activists up to more recent radicals and to the contemporary rejection of legal authority by various militia and anti-abortion movements. He illuminates a tradition of American legal heresy, linked by a body of shared references, idols, and commitments, that problematizes the American belief in legal neutrality and highlights the historical conflicts between law and justice. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
45. James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers (1826; reprint New York: Signet Classic , 1964), 13–14. 46. Id., 153. 47. Id., 343. 48. Id., 364–65. 49. Alexis de Tocqueville , Democracy in America (1835; reprint London: Oxford ..."
Ecological Politics
Politics stoutly resists efforts to meet dire threats to human survival, such as climate change, industrial poisons, and “natural” disasters. This book seizes on new discoveries of nature’s interconnective ways to demand politics and government without violence, fair and equal access to the ballot box, dialogue across differences, and electoral action from the ground up by an independent political party.
... James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers, introduction and notes by Charles R. Kessler, edited by Clinton Rossiter, originally published in 1788 (New York: Signet Classics ). 10. Alexis de Tocqueville , Democracy in America , ..."
The Art of Peace
Sun Tzu, author of 'The Art of War', believed that the acme of leadership consists in figuring out how to subdue the enemy with the least amount of fightinga fact that America's Founders also understood, and practiced with astonishing success. For it to work, however, a people must possess both the ability and the willingness to use all available instruments of power in peace as much as in war. US foreign policy has increasingly neglected the instruments of civilian power and become overly dependent on lethal solutions to conflict. The steep rise in unconventional conflict has increased the need for diplomatic and other non-hard power tools of statecraft. The United States can no longer afford to sit on the proverbial three-legged national security stool ("military, diplomacy, development"), where one leg is a lot longer than either of the other two, almost forgetting altogether the fourth leginformation, especially strategic communication and public diplomacy. The United States isn't so much becoming militarized as DE civilianized. According to Sun Tzu, self-knowledge is as important as knowledge of one's enemy: "if you know neither yourself nor the enemy, you will succumb in every battle." Alarmingly, the United States is deficient on both counts. And though we can stand to lose a few battles, the stakes of losing the war itself in this age of nuclear proliferation are too high to contemplate.
Forging an American Grand Strategy: Security a Path Through a Complex Future, Selected Presentations from a Symposium at the National Defense University. ... Tocqueville , Alexis de . Democracy in America . New York: Signet Classics , 2010."
Reboot!
Reboot to work; retirement is a disease. It 's better to wear out than rust out. That is the message of Reboot! While American culture glamorizes the Golden Years of endless leisure and amusement, Phil Burgess rejects retirement, as he makes the case for returning to work in the post-career years, a time he calls later life. Based on solid research from the social and medical sciences, the author says, It is better to die with your boots on, fully engaged in helping others and repairing the world. Reboot! is partly autobiographical. Indeed, the author is working well into his own post-career years, following two failed retirements. He is also convincing in his eye-opening, historically rooted, and hope-filled arguments for engaging in life-long work that is productive and satisfying. Reboot! identifies five different types of work: in-kind, volunteer, Samaritan, enrichment, and paid work. Booters who incorporate one or more of these types of work into their post-career lifestyle will, according to Burgess, live longer, live better, and die faster avoiding boredom, aimless busy-ness, diminished self-worth and the anguish (and cost) of lingering death. With America 's 78 million boomers turning 65 at the rate of 10,000 a day for the next 18 years, Reboot! provides a timely and provocative alternative to the conventional idea of retirement. With the promises of Social Security and Medicare about to be broken, Reboot! provides an upbeat and constructive way to deal with new financial realities. For men and women navigating life 's transitions, striving to finish well, Reboot! provides a roadmap for living a life of meaning, challenging the reader to be a booter, not a retiree. Burgess boldly asserts that retirement is a deadly disease, and that work after a life of work is the best option for post-career years that are meaningful, productive, healthy, and satisfying. See www.BooterNation.comExcerpts: On retirement: Not all ideas are good ideas. Some are bad ideas. Retirement is one of those bad ideas it makes no sense Retirement is not natural. It is not historic. It is not healthy. It is not, for most people, fulfilling. For many, retirement is a widow maker. On the value of work: The social engagement and satisfaction that come from working in later life are keys to successful aging There is much work to do in this world where we are but temporary inhabitants. We should find it and do it at least for as long as we re able. In many ways, our life depends on it. On work and money: Work is not only about money. Even if you don t need the money and your financial situation is stable and comfortable, returning to work in your post-career life is the smart thing to do at least until sidelined by frailty or disability. It 's smart because good health and satisfaction in later-life are most likely to come from working. On different types of work: For most of us, post-career work will be tailored work, work customized to reflect our needs, our deepest desires, and the highest and best use of our gifts especially time, talent, and treasure. Work tailored to our gifts will be productive and satisfying.
See Ronald D . Siegel , The Mindfulness Solution : Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems , New York: Guilford Press, 2010, and especially Chapter 10 on aging, pp. 283-314. See Darragh Johnson, “An Old Salt's Sea Change,” The Washington ..."
Truth and Privilege
A fascinating comparative history of the legal arguments and strategies used to regulate expression in Massachusetts and Nova Scotia.
In Women of America: A History, edited by Carol Berkin & Mary Beth Norton, 177–201. ... Tocqueville , Alexis de . Democracy in America , edited by Richard D. Heffner. New York: Signet Classics , 2001, first published 1835. Tratt, Gertrude."
Organized Crime
This book aims to describe and demystify what makes criminal gangs so culturally powerful. It examines their codes of conduct, initiation rites, secret communications methods, origin myths, symbols, and the like that imbue the gangsters with the pride and nonchalance that goes hand in hand with their criminal activities. Mobsters are everywhere in the movies, on television, and on websites. Contemporary societies are clearly fascinated by them. Why is this so? What feature and constituents of organized criminal gangs make them so emotionally powerful—to themselves and others? These are the questions that have guided the writing of this textbook, which is intended as an introduction to organized crime from the angle of cultural analysis. Key topics include: • An historic overview of organized crime, including the social, economic, and cultural conditions that favour its development; • A review of the type of people who make up organized gangs and the activities in which they engage; • The symbols, rituals, codes and languages that characterize criminal institutions; • The relationship between organized crime and cybercrime; • The role of women in organized crime; • Drugs and narco-terrorism; • Media portrayals of organized crime. Organized Crime includes case studies and offers an accessible, interdisciplinary approach to the subject of organized crime. It is essential reading for students engaged with organized crime across criminology, sociology, anthropology and psychology.
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 67: 130–138. Harding, Luke (2012). Mafia State: How One Reporter ... Tocqueville , Alexis de (1840). Democracy in America . New York: Signet Classics . Wang, Peng and Blancke, ..."
Religion, Flesh, and Blood
This book presents a portrait of a congregation that blends therapy and religion, producing a “therapeutic religion” in which: the role and meaning of religion are open to interpretation; religious identities are shaped by life experiences; and healing of the person is underscored. The book also highlights some of the tensions this produces.
Tocqueville , Alexis de . Democracy in America . Edited and abridged by Richard D. Heffner. New York: Signet Classic , 2001. Unity Fellowship Church. “Unity Fellowship Church: History.” Unity Fellowship Church of Christ Church, ..."
Keeping Out the Other
With contributions from social scientists, policy analysts, legal experts, community organisers, and journalists, this text provides a history and analysis of immigration enforcement in the United States.
Nancy Gibbs, “An In-Depth View of American by the Numbers,” Time, October30, 2006,48. 22. Steven Greenhouse and David Leonhardt, ... Alexis de Tocqueville , Democracy in America , ed. Richard Heffner (New York: Signet Classics , 2001). 40."
The Politics of Social Ties
After forced migration to a country where immigrants form an ethnic majority, why do some individuals support exclusivist and nationalist political parties while others do not? Based on extensive interviews and an original survey of 1,200 local Serbs and ethnic Serbian refugees fleeing violent conflict in Bosnia and Croatia, The Politics of Social Ties argues that those immigrants who form close interpersonal networks with others who share their experiences, such as the loss of family, friends, and home, in addition to the memory of ethnic violence from past wars, are more likely to vote for nationalist parties. Any political mobilization occurring within these interpersonal networks is not strategic, rather, individuals engage in political discussion with people who have a greater capacity for mutual empathy over the course of discussing other daily concerns. This book adds the dimension of ethnic identity to the analysis of individual political behavior, without treating ethnic groups as homogeneous social categories. It adds valuable insight to the existing literature on political behavior by emphasizing the role of social ties among individuals.
... and Social Identity in American Life (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004); Alexis De Tocqueville , Democracy in America (New York: Signet Classics , 2001 [1835]); Heinz Eulau and Lawrence Rothenberg, “Life Spaces and Social ..."
Born to be Free
This book explains the basic concepts, in layman’s language, of American political thought and the strategy for getting its teaching back onto our college campuses and into our high schools where it has been missing for many years.
2003. The Federalist Papers. With an introduction and notes by Charles R. Kesler. New York: Signet Classics . Sacks, Jonathan, trans. 2015. Pirkei Avot. Jerusalem: Koren Publishers. Tocqueville , Alexis de . 2000. Democracy in America ."
Conceived in Liberty
Conceived in Liberty is a cultural, sociological and geopolitical review of the uniquely American notion that the country and its people are “exceptional.” While all nations have their own patriotic commitments, no other people have outwardly declared their power as vigorously as have Americans, especially since World War II. John J. Tierney, Jr. advances the idea that liberty is the singular source of the power of the American worldview and all other elements of this society—equality, patience, charity, justice, etc.—are derived from liberty. He argues that this worldview comes from this one source and is responsible for the many movements that may engage the public’s interest, such as women’s rights, civil rights, and voting rights. Such movements are all positive, but they could not exist in a society devoid of liberty. Conceived in Liberty also traces other main components of the American worldview: geographic expanse, immigration, energy of the populace, diversity, public policies, and the elements that contribute to exceptionalism. Tierney is not blind to some of the deficiencies of the United States, but he posits that the liberty it manifests is truly the political globe’s last, best hope.
Paine, Thomas, Collected Writings (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, 1955), 169. 28. ... 47. de Tocqueville , Alexis , Democracy In America , Richard D. Heffner, Ed. (New York: Signet Classic , 2001), 145. 48."
A Documentary History of the United States
Here in a single volume are the documents, speeches, and letters that have forged American history, accompanied by interpretations of their significance by noted historian and broadcaster Richard D. Heffner. It includes complete text of the Declaration of Independence, the complete Constitution of the United States, the Emancipation Proclamation, FDR?s ?Four Freedoms? Speech, John F. Kennedy?s Inaugural Address, Martin Luther King Jr.?s ?I Have a Dream? Speech, documents relating to September 11, 2001, and Barack Obama?s Inaugural Address.
In addition to A Documentary History of the United States, Mr. Heffner has edited and introduced the Signet Classics edition of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America . Random House/Schocken Books published his Conversations with ..."
The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics
As a field of scholarship, gender and politics has exploded over the last fifty years and is now global, institutionalized, and ever expanding. The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics brings to political science an accessible and comprehensive overview of the key contributions of gender scholars to the study of politics and shows how these contributions produce a richer understanding of polities and societies. Like the field it represents, the handbook has a broad understanding of what counts as political and is based on a notion of gender that highlights masculinities as well as femininities, thereby moving feminist debates in politics beyond the focus on women. It engages with some of the key aspects of political science as well as important themes in gender and feminist research (such as sexuality and body politics), thereby forging a dialogue between gender studies in politics and mainstream political science. The handbook is organized in sections that look at sexuality and body politics; political economy; civil society; participation, representation and policymaking; institutions, states and governance as well as nation, citizenship and identity. The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics contains and reflects the best scholarship in its field.
Berkeley: University of California Press. de Tocqueville , Alexis . [1835] 2001. Democracy in America . New York: Signet Classics . Diamond, L. J. 1994. “Toward democratic consolidation.” Journal of Democracy 5: 4–17. Dionne, E. J. 1998."
A Nation of Nations
“An incisive look at immigration, assimilation, and national identity” (Kirkus Reviews) and the landmark immigration law that transformed the face of the nation more than fifty years ago, as told through the stories of immigrant families in one suburban county in Virginia. In the years since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, the foreign-born population of the United States has tripled. Americans today are vastly more diverse than ever. They look different, speak different languages, practice different religions, eat different foods, and enjoy different cultures. In 1950, Fairfax County, Virginia, was ninety percent white, ten percent African-American, with a little more than one hundred families who were “other.” Currently the Anglo white population is less than fifty percent, and there are families of Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American origin living all over the county. “In A Nation of Nations, National Public Radio correspondent Tom Gjelten brings these changes to life” (The Wall Street Journal), following a few immigrants to Fairfax County over recent decades as they gradually “Americanize.” Hailing from Korea, Bolivia, and Libya, the families included illustrate common immigrant themes: friction between minorities, economic competition and entrepreneurship, and racial and cultural stereotyping. It’s been half a century since the Immigration and Nationality Act changed the landscape of America, and no book has assessed the impact or importance of this law as A Nation of Nations. With these “powerful human stories…Gjelten has produced a compelling and informative account of the impact of the 1965 reforms, one that is indispensable reading at a time when anti-immigrant demagoguery has again found its way onto the main stage of political discourse” (The Washington Post).
A Great American Immigration Story Tom Gjelten ... 5 “new and unbounded”: Alexis de Tocqueville , Democracy in America , ed. Richard D. Heffner (New York: Signet Classics / New American Library, 2001), 182. 5 “where the inhabitants ..."
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar