A look at Alexis De Tocqueville's view on democracy.
Analytical Essay # 44494 |
650 words (
approx. 2.6 pages ) |
2 sources |
2002
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This paper discusses the idea of democracy as given by Alexis de Tocqueville who wrote a comprehensive book on the democratic system of America. He was of the view that though American democratic system was working successfully, it still had some weaknesses, which should be addressed effectively.
A look at the sympathetic position of Alexis de Tocqueville towards African Americans and Native Americans in 19th century America.
Analytical Essay # 128858 |
955 words (
approx. 3.8 pages ) |
1 source |
MLA | 2010
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$ 20.95
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The paper shows how Alexis de Tocqueville in his "Democracy in America" was well-aware of the tremendous suffering born by African Americans and Native Americans on European-dominated soil. The paper points out that Tocqueville perceived America's native population in a more sympathetic light than that of the African Americans. The paper demonstrates how Tocqueville does not try to excuse or ignore the American legacy of slavery and oppression, even while he celebrates American democracy.
From the Paper
"Often, it is thought that long ago, individuals were not as enlightened as we are now today about race relations. However, a quick survey of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America shows this supposition to be false. Tocqueville was all too well-aware of the tremendous suffering born by African-Americans and Native Americans on European-dominated soil. While Tocqueville took a generally positive view of American democracy, and generally judged social and political relations in America to be more democratic and therefore superior to conditions of his native France, the treatment of nonwhite races, particularly Native Americans gave him great pause when evaluating the excellence of the American experiment in democracy."
Tags:African, Americans, Native, Americans, oppression, slavery, colonialism
A discussion and analysis of Alexis de Tocqueville's ideas on the American political system in his work "Democracy in America".
Analytical Essay # 113986 |
2,360 words (
approx. 9.4 pages ) |
10 sources |
MLA | 2009
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$ 43.95
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The paper discusses Alexis de Tocqueville's prediction that, in viewing equality as the ultimate imperative, Americans would forego their freedom. The paper explains Tocqueville's ideas on taxing the rich and poor and his belief that the American federal government would moderate and regulate aspects of the lives of the people it was put in place to serve. The paper then relates that Tocqueville did not realize the strength that America would eventually exhibit, that it would become the most powerful empire in the world and a moderator for world activities.
From the Paper
""Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom," Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America, after visiting the country in 1831 to document the prison and political systems. Though at the time Americans were not communists or true socialists, it turns out that, particularly in the modern United States, he was on the right track. His best prediction was the one that allowed that Americans will give their liberty away for anything. But to credit him in his prediction, it is necessary not to include the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as much of what was going on was racially charged, and the actions of many did not have equality as a main goal. Slavery, the reconstruction period, and the Civil Rights Era were filled with discriminatory policies and segregation, but what Tocqueville was describing was America's attempt to epitomize the true democracy, where people are not necessarily free, but they are at least somewhat equal. This ideal he found in America was for everyone to have some protection by the federal government, as everyone donates to it by participating in society."
Tags:taxation, liberties, equality, superpower, moderator
This paper reviews Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," with an emphasis on the role of women in society.
Analytical Essay # 119794 |
4,230 words (
approx. 16.9 pages ) |
1 source |
APA | 2010
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$ 67.95
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In this paper, a review of Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" is presented in which the stated goal is to explore the way in which de Tocqueville sees women influencing democracy. The starting point of this inquiry is a quote that de Tocqueville made about the importance of women in American society. The paper then goes on to discuss many aspects of inequality and prejudice in America, including racism and sexism. Throughout these discussions, the reviewer returns to citing de Tocqueville's view of the superior nature of women and their ability to shape society.
From the Paper
"Furthermore, democratic society is plagued by an excess of materialism and love of well-being. Equality itself causes materialism, in conjunction with the commercial spirit which is characteristic of American democracy. Without the security of a caste system, the rich fear losing their wealth and the poor are constantly agitated by the desire to gain riches (pg. 507). This focus on material goods causes Americans to "[lose] sight of the more precious goods that make the glory and greatness of the human species" (pg. 509). In other words, materialists look only to the immediate gratification of earthly comforts, reinforcing an individualist outlook. Tocqueville fears that the pursuit of well-being will degrade democratic men and leave them atomized and narrow minded."
Tags:America, women, mores, society
An examination of the philosophy of American religious and political thought, as presented by the French writer Alexis de Tocqueville.
Analytical Essay # 67934 |
1,730 words (
approx. 6.9 pages ) |
3 sources |
MLA | 2005
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$ 33.95
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This paper examines how Alexis de Tocqueville describes through his literature, the philosophical strain of American religious and political thought in the mid 19th century as a philosophy of pantheism, pluralism, materialism and above all, of the tyranny of the American democratic majority.
From the Paper
"Religion in America, Tocqueville suggested, and faith in America was not necessarily freely chosen, but determined upon by popular consensus as an alternative to the hierarchical dogma that predominated in European forms of faith. Material goods in the here and now rather than faith in the beyond were the American measure of a person's glory and socially isolates human beings, because this is what the common people responded to. "It must be acknowledged that equality, which brings great benefits into the world, nevertheless suggests to men (as will be shown hereafter) some very dangerous propensities. It tends to isolate them from one another, to concentrate every man's attention upon himself; and it lays open the soul to an inordinate love of material gratification.""
Tags:pantheism, pluralism, materialism, majority, europe
An essay on what Alexis De Tocqueville would have to say of America today.
Analytical Essay # 67001 |
896 words (
approx. 3.6 pages ) |
2 sources |
MLA | 2006
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$ 19.95
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This paper compares the America of today to the America of Alexis De Tocqueville, claiming that were De Tocqueville alive today to see what America has become he would snicker at what he wrote about America being a society that gave equal opportunities to all.
From the Paper
"Alexis De Tocqueville seemed smitten with the freedom and the lack of hereditary privilege he found in America in the first half of the nineteenth Century. What he saw then was a nation not bound by hereditary estates or titles, but supposedly gave equal opportunities to all. His revolution created Napoleon. The American Revolution produced the Constitution, Washington Jefferson and Madison."
Tags:liberals, left-wingers, democracy, vote, elections, intellect, unequal, distribution
A comprehensive analysis of Alexis de Tocqueville and Walt Whitman perceptions of early America and their implications today.
Analytical Essay # 57424 |
1,582 words (
approx. 6.3 pages ) |
6 sources |
MLA | 2003
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$ 31.95
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This paper provide a scholarly evaluation of Tocqueville's arguments about democratic culture in the United States, the perceptions of Walt Whitman in this regard, and their legacy for modern American culture. A summary of the research is provided in the conclusion.
From the Paper
"Originally visiting America to study prison reform, Alexis De Tocqueville quickly became fascinated by the lifestyle of the Americans. His Democracy in America addressed America's love for equality over freedom; materialism; religious mores; and the American educational system. His first-hand, insightful descriptions of the country in 1831-1832 from New York to New Orleans provide some contrasting portraits of the average American from a foreigner's perspective. For instance, intrigued by the everyday life of Americans De Tocqueville described the inside of one home in Tennessee in his diary as being one characterized by slothfulness and inattentiveness to the quality of living conditions, factors that were cited above and beyond the poverty noted and for which the latter could not completely account."
Tags:democracy, leaves, song
This paper discusses the organization and history of Alexis De Tocqueville's "Analysis Of Democracy In America" and focuses on majority rule, lawyers & juries.
Analytical Essay # 17215 |
1,800 words (
approx. 7.2 pages ) |
1 source |
2010
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$ 34.95
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From the Paper
"Often, we cannot impartially judge our political, social and cultural institutions from a position of within these institutions ("What knows he of England who only England knows?"). It takes an outside observer to define and evaluate the principles upon which we base our civilization.
During Andrew Jackson's second term as President, a Frenchman, Alexis de Toqueville, anxious to impress his own nation, in the midst of one of its characteristic political experiments, of the desirability and workability of representative democracy, travelled throughout the United States, studying and observing the political process in this country. His findings and conclusions were described in Democracy in America, first published in 1839. In this often-reprinted and retranslated work, Toqueville offers a remarkably perceptive view ... "
Tags:POLITICAL SCIENCE: POLITICAL THEORY, HISTORY: U.S. (Before 1865)
This paper discusses "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville, which focuses on America's socio-political landscape during the early 19th century.
Essay # 52568 |
1,085 words (
approx. 4.3 pages ) |
1 source |
APA | 2004
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$ 22.95
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This paper explains that the most essential discussion in de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" establishes that the country's culture determines the "practical philosophy" of American politics, as well as the establishment of a more egalitarian than libertarian society. The author points out that the social conditions of governing American politics are based on gender, religion, and even the dichotomy and differences that de Tocqueville raises between the Americans and Europeans. The paper relates that de Tocqueville's thesis posits that people or Americans govern the country, and this socio-political order has both advantages and disadvantages that result in the development of a government that is called "the tyranny of the majority".
From the Paper
"Social institutions are also an important force that forms the core of American politics. With stronger power and influence in politics, social institutions and groups in America have the authority to determine whose power will become dominant in the country. By studying the role that the mass media, particularly the press institution, plays in enforcing the authority of the majority in American politics, Tocqueville argues that in a country where mass media is a powerful institution affecting public opinion, Means must then be found to converse every day without seeing one another, and to take steps in common without having met. Thus hardly any democratic association can do without newspapers.? These, in general, are the forces that determine the nature of American politics as determined by Tocqueville in "Democracy in America"."
Tags:majority, egalitarian, dichotomy, europe, media
Examines the views of this Frenchman on society, values and ideals, politics and the problems of the U.S. in the 1830s.
Analytical Essay # 14422 |
1,350 words (
approx. 5.4 pages ) |
11 sources |
1999
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$ 27.95
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One of the earliest analyses of American culture was that of Alexis de Tocqueville, who traveled the country in 1835 and 1840. In his Democracy in America, De Tocqueville reported on what Americans thought of themselves, and much of what he writes evokes the traditions and myths by which Americans are identified to this day.
From the Paper
"One of the earliest analyses of American culture was that of Alexis de Tocqueville, who traveled the country in 1835 and 1840. In his Democracy in America, De Tocqueville reported on what Americans thought of themselves, and much of what he writes evokes the traditions and myths by which Americans are identified to this day. Among the traditions De Tocqueville cites about American society are the notion of rights for everyone, the public spirit of the people, and the general respect for law. He also addresses the question of the possibility of the tyranny of the majority and the ways in which this is mitigated as he writes: "But in the United States the majority which so frequently displays the tastes and the propensities of a despot, is still destitute of the more perfect instruments of tyranny" (De Tocqueville 261). De Tocqueville then shows how the minority is ..."