Democracy in America (Volumes 1 and 2, Unabridged) [Paperback]

Alexis de Tocqueville (Author), Henry Reeve (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1420929127 | ISBN-13: 978-1420929126 | Publication Date: January 1, 2007 | Edition: Unabridged

In 1831, the then twenty-seven year old Alexis de Tocqueville, was sent with Gustave de Beaumont to America by the French Government to study and make a report on the American prison system. Over a period of nine months the two traveled all over America making notes not only on the prison systems but on all aspects of American society and government. From these notes Tocqueville wrote "Democracy in America", an exhaustive analysis of the successes and failures of the American form of government, a republican representative democracy. Contained here are both of the unabridged volumes of that classic exposition as translated by Henry Reeve.

Product Details

• Paperback: 540 pages
• Publisher: Digireads.com; Unabridged edition (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1420929127
• ISBN-13: 978-1420929126
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astute Observer of America, April 21, 2010

By 

Michael A Neulander "Political Philosophy" (VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Democracy in America (Volumes 1 and 2, Unabridged) (Paperback)

Alexis De Tocqueville was simply of one of the great social scientists writing about America and Democracy. From reading the book I deduced that Tocqueville was a social scientist before Marx! He compares European culture and government with the fledgling culture and democracy he observes in America. He is very much impressed with what he sees taking place in America in the 1830's and hopes it will spread to Europe. He at first believed that America's prosperity was simply due to geography and their distance from powerful neighbors, he abandons this idea after his visit to America. He comes to realize that the West is not being peopled "by new European immigrants to America, but by Americans who he believes have no adversity to taking risks." Tocqueville comes to see that Americans are the most broadly educated and politically advanced people in the world and one of the reasons for the success of our form of government. He also foretells America's industrial preeminence and strength through the unfettered spread of ideas and human industry.

Tocqueville also saw the insidious damage that the institution of slavery was causing the country and predicted some 30 years before the Civil War that slavery would probable cause the states to fragment from the union. He also the emergence of stronger states rights over the power of the federal government. He held fast to his belief that the greatest danger to democracy was the trend toward the concentration of power by the federal government. He predicted wrongly that the union would probably break up into two or three countries because of regional interests and differences. This idea is the only one about America that he gets wrong. Despite some of his misgivings, Tocqueville, saw that democracy is an "inescapable development" of the modern world. The arguments in the "Federalist Papers" were greater then most people realized. He saw a social revolution coming that continues throughout the world today.

Tocqueville realizes at the very beginning of the "industrial revolution" how industry, centralization, and democracy strengthened each other and moved forward together. I am convinced that Tocqueville is still the preeminent observer of America but is also the father of social science. A must read for anyone interested in American history, political philosophy or the social sciences.