Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America is commonly regarded as the most profound study of America ever written. Seeing "in America more than America," Tocqueville studies America to understand the nature of modern democracy itself. In the course of his discussion, he examines, among many other subjects, America's democratic social condition, its constitutional federalism, the problem of majority tyranny in America, the troubled relations among its racial groups, the prevailing understanding of sexual equality, the relation of religion and government, the powerful love of material well-being, and the dangers of administrative centralization and "mild despotism." This course will examine Tocqueville's treatments of these and other subjects in extensive excerpts from his book, all with a larger view toward understanding his descriptive account of democracy in America, his analysis of the main dangers it faces, and his suggestions as to the proper remedies for those dangers—the means for preserving and enhancing liberty in a nation dedicated to the principle of political and social equality.
Instructor: David Foster is Associate Professor of Political Science and Chairman of the Department of History and Political Science at Ashland University. He has published on Mark Twain, John Locke, and on issues of higher education.