How Many Democracies?

The famous French literary critic Sainte-Beuve once predicted that Tocqueville would become an inexhaustible subject of reflection for future generations of scholars. A century and a half after his death, the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville remain a source of inspiration for political theorists, sociologists, philosophers, legal scholars, and historians. Today, Tocqueville is celebrated as the most prominent theorist of the modern democratic revolution. It is no mere coincidence that in the past decade alone, four new English translations of Democracy in America have been published. A fifth new translation by James T. Schleifer and edited by Eduardo Nolla (forthcoming with Liberty Fund) will give English-speaking readers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with Tocqueville's fascinating notes for Democracy in America. Two new translations of Tocqueville's The Old Regime and the Revolution have also been published in the last decade.

Moreover, a significant number of new and provocative interpretations of Tocqueville's works have appeared in both French and English, shedding fresh light on lesser-known facets of Tocqueville's persona: the philosopher, the moralist, the writer, the politician and the defender of French colonization of Algeria. The publication of The Tocqueville Reader, The Cambridge Companion to Tocqueville, along with the third volume of his works in the prestigious Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, have added new dimensions to our appreciation of Tocqueville.