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Revisiting Tocqueville's America

Society, Politics, and Association in the Nineteenth Century

Princeton University

The concept of social capital has revitalized the study of civil society. Alexis de Tocqueville's examination of 19th-century America is a major source of inspiration for much of this work. Tocqueville's analysis has been used to help support the idea that a strong civil society is crucial to democratic success. A reconsideration of Tocqueville's analysis, and, more important, of his American case, however, suggests that an active civil society is not an unalloyed good for democratic politics. A strong society can be not only a support but also a threat to democracy and liberal democratic ideals. One's evaluation of the health of democratic polities must depend on a study of the effects of political institutions and constitutional structures, as well as of civil society.

American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 42, No. 1, 21-32 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/0002764298042001003


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