What struck him most was the countrys equality of conditions, its democracy. Having seen the failed attempts at a democratic government in his native france, tocqueville set out to study a stable and prosperous democracy in order to gain insight into how it work. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of structural transformation of the public sphere and what it means. Democracy in america as democracy in america revealed, tocqueville believed that equality was the great political and social idea of his era, and he thought that the. He describes americas social condition as, in a word, democratic. This enduring classic explores the civil institutions and. This is an introductory section, summarising the most important points of this work in one 10minute read. The author documents his travels through america and contrasts his experiences with established aristocratic systems in western europe. Its title translates as on democracy in america, but english translations are. Find summaries for every chapter, including a democracy in america chapter summary chart.
Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. Idea and ideology in jurgen habermass structural transformation of the public sphere. His approach is totally original compar to a normative philosophy that prevailed in classics montesquieu, rousseau and the greeks, tocqueville rather use a descriptive and clinical approach. Democracy in america vol 2 part 2 chapters 1 10 summary. Although franceand europe in generalhave long been home to aristocratic monarchies where a king and queen rule but an aristocratic class also retains power and privileges based on birth, equality of condition a leveling out of social class hierarchies is increasingly. Its title translates as on democracy in america, but english translations are usually simply entitled democracy in america. An overview of the book democracy in america thoughtco.
Democracy in america chapter summaries course hero. While historians have viewed democracy as a rich source about the age of andrew jackson, tocqueville was more of a political thinker than a historian. Equality reigned from the start in new england, although to the south some english proprietors had imported aristocratic principles of inheritance, buttressed by slavery. Find a summary of this and each chapter of democracy in america. After barely escaping the guillotine, his parents escaped to england. In the book, the french author analyzes the political and sociological aspects of the american democratic regime and contrasts his findings with the situation of the people living under the aristocratic. He wrote democracy in america after visiting the united states during which he observed various elements of the prison system. He is best known for his works democracy in america appearing in two volumes, 1835 and 1840 and the old regime and the revolution. Furthermore, tocquevilles democracy in america is often cited by presentday critics because so many of the observations in it seem extraordinarily suitable even more than one hundred and fifty years later. During his trip to the united states, tocqueville was able to describe the awakening democracy. Tocqueville embarked on his own political career in france but is best known for his contributions to history and political philosophy. Furthermore, tocqueville s democracy in america is often cited by presentday critics because so many of the observations in it seem extraordinarily suitable even more than one hundred and fifty years later. Such laws supported practices like primogeniture, in which only the eldest son would receive the fortune and property, as well as the prevention of partitioning an estate, whichas tocqueville notes herewould eventually cause the most powerful families fortunes. His ninemonth sojourn led to the writing of democracy in america, universally regarded as one of the most influential books ever written.
Tocqueville pinpoints a few major events that have led to equality of condition, from the crusades, which devastated the nobles wealth, to the art of printing, which disseminated knowledge among many, and protestantism, which proclaimed the ability of all to reach heaven on their own merits. Created by the original team behind sparknotes, litcharts are the worlds best literature guides. The surprisingly large number of readers who chuckled over toby youngs how to lose friends. Although franceand europe in generalhave long been home to aristocratic monarchies where a king and queen rule but an aristocratic class also retains power and privileges based on birth, equality of condition a leveling out of social class hierarchies is increasingly coming to replace such customs. Inheritance laws were, in france and elsewhere, crucial means of transmitting wealth and maintaining an aristocracy over time. Tocqueville is a 2010 book of poetry by libyanamerican author and professor khaled mattawa. Although franceand europe in generalhave long been home to aristocratic monarchies where a king and queen rule but an aristocratic class also retains power and privileges based on birth, equality of condition a leveling out. Tocqueville argues that one must study social conditions in order to understand the laws and ideas that regulate a nation.
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