The Immigration Debate

Hot Topics > Immigration
Latin-American Studies > Immigration/Emigration issues
Political Science > Non-U.S.
Political Science > U.S.

This paper addresses the immigration debates in both the United States and France.

2,230 words () | 10 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper looks at how Alexis de Tocqueville describes France and the United States and the political and civic situations found in each. The paper utilizes the readings of Max Weber to define terms such as migration, assimilation and citizenship. The paper compares and contrasts the situations in France and the United States and concludes that France has a much more progressive approach to immigration than America.

From the Paper:

"Perhaps no foreign observer has better captured the unique nature of the civic and social life of the United States than Alexis de Tocqueville - and none, certainly, is better-equipped to offer an analysis of both the United States and France with regards to their respective political and civic milieus. De Tocqueville writes that the elective institutions and vigorous politics of America bind together men (and women, although de Tocqueville was writing before women had the franchise in the United States) in a sort of common servitude to each other and to the greater good; by comparison, nineteenth century France was a society, in the Frenchman's view, which impugned political freedom (here, de Tocqueville may also mean civic duty though it is not clear) as something to be avoided (vol. II, "That the Americans Combat the Effects of Individualism by Free Institutions," 102-105)."

Sample of Sources Used:

Alba, Richard. "Looking Beyond the Moment: American Immigration Seen from Historically and Internationally Comparative Perspectives." Border Battles: The U.S. Immigration Debates. 28 Jul. 2006. Social Science Research Council. 19 Dec. 2006 <http://borderbattles.ssrc.org/Alba/>
Alba, Richard. "Mexican Americans and the American Dream." Perspective on Politics, 4.2 (2006): 289-296.
Bonelli, Laurent. "Policing the Youth: Toward a Redefinition of Discipline and Social Control in French Working-Class Neighborhoods." Youth, Globalization and the Law. Eds. Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh and Ronald Kassimir. Date and place of publication not provided by client. 90-123.
Bowen, John R. "Muslims and Citizens: France's Headscarf Controversy." Boston Review (February/March 2004): 31-35. 19 Dec. 2006 <http://artsci.wustl.edu/~jbowen/content/BostonReviewarticle.pdf>
De Tocqueville, Alexis. "Author's Introduction." Democracy in America, vol. I. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945. 1-16.