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The Tocqueville Problem: Civic Engagement in American Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2016

Theda Skocpol
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Extract

Over the past 15 years, my scholarship has been devoted to understanding the patterns, the possibilities, and the impossibilities of politics and social policy in the United States. In this essay, therefore, I have decided to use historical evidence to address current public and scholarly debates about civic engagement in American democracy. As I hope to remind us all, social science historians can speak clearly to contemporary public concerns. We may be able to introduce some better evidence and more sophisticated explanations into ongoing debates.

Type
President’ Address
Information
Social Science History , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , Winter 1997 , pp. 455 - 479
Copyright
Copyright © Social Science History Association 1997 

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