The French statesman and writer Alexis Charles Henri Maurice Clérel de Tocqueville (1805-1859) was the author of "Democracy in America," the first classic commentary on American government written by a foreigner. Alexis de Tocqueville was born...

The French statesman and writer Alexis Charles Henri Maurice Clérel de Tocqueville (1805-1859) was the author of Democracy in America, the first classic commentary on American government written by a foreigner. Alexis de Tocqueville was born in...

Politician and author Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859), who was born in the village of Tocqueville in France on July 29 and died on April 16, is best known for his two politically minded books, Democracy in America (1835–1840) and The...

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59) was a French aristocrat who, while in some ways regretting the passing of the Ancien Régime as a result of the French Revolution, nevertheless became one of the most sympathetic and acute observers of Western...

Born July 19, 1805 Paris, France Died April 16, 1859 Cannes, France French writer who first defined the meaning of American as a new nationality Alexis de Tocqueville....

Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (July 29, 1805 – April 16, 1859) was a French political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America (appearing in two volumes: 1835 and 1840) and The Old Regime and the Revolution...

The year just past, 2005, marked the bicentennial of the birth of Alexis de Tocqueville. This French statesman's famous book, Democracy in America, has been justly described as both the best book ever written about America and the best book ever written about...

Unlike Jesus or Buddha, Mohammed not only established a powerful spiritual tradition, he also spent the last ten years of his Life laying the foundations of an Islamic empire on earth. In the centuries after the Prophet's death in 632, the Islamic world...

Like so many marriages, theirs is a study in contrasts. President Jacques Chirac is crazy about John Wayne flicks and sumo wrestling, while his wife Bernadette prefers books. He is known for his easygoing charm. But even after 50 years of marriage, she insists they...

She's French. She's female. And she is causing quite a stir. Christine Lagarde, the first woman finance minister for a G-8 nation, was rated the best minister in President Nicolas Sarkozy's government last month by one of France's top-selling newspapers. Not bad for a political...

In this excerpt, Zetterbaum examines Tocqueville's attempts to reconcile the seemingly contradictory concepts of equality and individuality, justice and excellence, in modern democracy.

In this excerpt Boesche discusses Tocqueville's warnings of a "new despotism," potentially originating within American-style democracies, that would enslave the soul and would be brought about by equality, isolation, and abundance.

In this essay, Brogan asserts that Tocqueville's assessment of the American Presidency in general, and Andrew Jackson in particular, was seriously flawed; Tocqueville underestimated the importance of both.

Essay discusses the difference in opinions between Thomas Jefferson and Alexis de Tocqueville.

Over 150 years ago in his classic book Democracy in America, the French writer Alexis de Tocqueville agreed with the way in which America was governed. Tocqueville observed that its emphasis on freedom and equality made America great; thus it made sense to him that a democratic government, in which all citizens have a say in the decision-making process, governed America. Tocqueville's observations about America still ring true today.

A history of the U.S. Federal Estate Tax and why, in the view of the author, it should be repealed. The phase out of this type of tax would not have been favored by de Tocqueville. He would have found this tax a useful way to prevent tremendous wealth from being transferred from generation to generation.