The book was published to immediate acclaim ever, everone thought this was the greatest fi on in 18 35. At the time people said, yes, its is a great book, but illit did get certain things wrong. Andd we've been addressing some of those things. The big thing that happens when after he gets back is the 18 forty eight revolution in france, which does bring democracy to france. Ihwhih wich, whih was a horrid sight for him at the time. Bcause he didt see one tribe being forcibly moved. It's what he has to said about democracy in america, or the nature of democracy at in a sense,
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) and his examination of the American democratic system. He wrote De La Démocratie en Amérique in two parts, published in 1835 and 1840, when France was ruled by the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe. Tocqueville was interested in how aspects of American democracy, in the age of President Andrew Jackson, could be applied to Europe as it moved away from rule by monarchs and aristocrats. His work has been revisited by politicians ever since, particularly in America, with its analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of direct democracy and its warnings of mediocrity and the tyranny of the majority.
With
Robert Gildea
Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford
Susan-Mary Grant
Professor of American History at Newcastle University
and
Jeremy Jennings
Professor of Political Theory and Head of the School of Politics & Economics at King's College London
Producer: Simon Tillotson.