Democracy in America

| 4.26 | 24,339 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Karl Rove, Yuval Levin, Robert Reich, and 4 others. See all reviews

Ranked #5 in Democracy, Ranked #7 in Political Theory — see more rankings.

Democracy in America has had the singular honor of being even to this day the work that political commentators of every stripe refer to when they seek to draw large conclusions about the society of the USA. Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat, came to the young nation to investigate the functioning of American democracy & the social, political & economic life of its citizens, publishing his observations in 1835 & 1840. Brilliantly written, vividly illustrated with vignettes & portraits, Democracy in America is far more than a trenchant analysis of... more
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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of Democracy in America from the world's leading experts.

Karl Rove Tocqueville was seized by the sharp contrast between Paris and America, where people did not wait for the central government, but went ahead on their own, and I think that’s vital part of what it is to be both an American and a vital part of what is America. (Source)

Yuval Levin It lays out how ideas are translated into political institutions, and even more so into mores and habits and practices of everyday life. (Source)

Robert Reich Tocqueville was not only a brilliant sociologist but he also saw the connections between American society and the budding capitalism of the 1830s. (Source)

Stephen Breyer It’s a masterpiece of sociological and political analysis. Tocqueville’s work still helps us understand America, 170 years after he wrote it. (Source)

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