French thinker Alexis de Tocqueville was born on July 29, 1805 in Paris into a noble family. His great-grandfather was a prominent monarchist who defended Louis XVI before the Convention and died during the Great Revolution. The family did everything to ensure that Alexis received a quality liberal arts education. In his youth, having a judicial position in Versailles, he briefly practiced law. However, Tocqueville was much more interested in the socio-political sphere, where he moved at the first opportunity that arose.
Thinker's Views
Unlike his grandfather and father, Alexis de Tocqueville, whose biography is an example of a person who confidently abandoned democratic ideals all his life, was far from being a monarchist. His concept of an ideal state was formed thanks to a close acquaintance with the United States, then little understood by Europeans.
Tocqueville ended up in America in 1831. He went overseas as part of a business trip in which he was supposed to study the penitentiary system of the United States. Also, Alexis de Tocqueville, whose era in Europe would have been different if not for the example of light-loving Americans, wanted to get to knowtrue democracy of the former English colonies.
Trip to USA
The Frenchman went to America with his friend Gustave de Beaumont. Overseas they spent nine months. All this time, the comrades traveled to various cities, communicated with the local intelligentsia, gained impressions about the life and structure of an unfamiliar society.
In that 1831 Democrat Andrew Jackson was President of the United States. Tocqueville was lucky - he ended up in a country that was undergoing important systemic changes for itself. Eleven more joined the federal union of thirteen states. Two of them (Missouri and Louisiana) were already located beyond the great Mississippi River. The French guest was able to see with his own eyes the massive colonization of the western lands, where seekers of adventure and a new homeland aspired.
In 1831, the US population was 13 million and continued to grow rapidly. More and more people left the eastern states and moved to the western. The reason for this was the development of capitalism. The eastern industrial regions were notable for poor working conditions in factories, frequent unemployment and housing problems. Alexis de Tocqueville spent most of his time in New England. He also visited the Great Lakes, looked into Canada, Tennessee, Ohio, New Orleans. The Frenchman visited Washington, where he was able to get acquainted in detail with the principles of the federal government.
Tocqueville met and got to know many influential and famous Americans: Andrew Jackson, Albert Gallaten, John Quincy Adams, Jerid Sparks and FrancisLiber. The traveler had short conversations with representatives of all segments of the population. Tocqueville and Beaumont asked the Americans countless questions. Their letters to friends and relatives testify to the careful preparation of these talks.
Democracy in America
Tocqueville's trip to the USA has borne fruit - the book "Democracy in America". The composition was a success not only in France, but throughout Europe. It was soon translated into a dozen foreign languages. The main outstanding features of the book were the author's impartial attitude to his subject, his insight and depth of knowledge of the topic, as well as the abundance of collected unique material. Alexis de Tocqueville, whose "Democracy in America" has not lost its relevance even today, thanks to her was deservedly ranked among the best political theorists of the 19th century.
In his book, the writer compared the political system of the United States and France. As a public figure and a future member of parliament, he wanted to bring the best of the American experience to his native country. Tocqueville saw the basis of democracy in the traditions of the Puritans who stood at the origins of the colonies in the New World. He considered the main advantage of American society to be equality of opportunity for all residents of the country.
The concept of an ideal state
The researcher contrasted French excessive centralization with overseas decentralization (being a consistent supporter of the latter). It was thanks to her, the thinker believed, that in the United States there were no hugecities, excessive fortunes and conspicuous poverty. Equal opportunities smoothed out social conflicts and helped to avoid revolution. Interestingly, Tocqueville opposed America not only to France, but also to Russia, which he considered the bulwark of pernicious autocracy.
Federalism was another sign of an ideal state, said Alexis de Tocqueville. Democracy in America, however, not only praised democracy, but also highlighted its shortcomings. It was Tocqueville who became the author of the famous saying "the tyranny of the majority." With this phrase, the author determined the order in which the masses who had power could use it inefficiently or even delegate their powers to a tyrant.
The French thinker came to the conclusion that the guarantee of all freedoms is freedom of choice, and the constitutional system is necessary primarily to limit and contain the state. He also had conflicting statements. So, Tocqueville believed that in a society of victorious equality there is no place for art. "Democracy in America" was read by Alexander Pushkin. The Russian poet was deeply impressed by her, as he said in one of his letters to Chaadaev.
The beginning of a political career
After the publication of "Democracy in America" Alexis de Tocqueville went to England, where his book was especially popular. The writer was waiting for the warmest reception of the reading public. In 1841, the thinker became a member of the French Academy of Sciences. He was also elected a deputy, although his position in the House was not distinguished by something outstanding.
Without becoming contrary to his rare political mindAs a parliamentary leader, Alexis de Tocqueville almost did not go to the podium, but mostly worked in various commissions. He did not belong to any party, although he mostly voted from the left and often opposed the conservative Prime Minister François Guizot.
Alexis de Tocqueville regularly criticized the government for its policies that did not take into account the interests of all sectors of society. In his rare speeches, the politician spoke of the inevitability of a revolution. It actually happened in 1848. Although Tocqueville was a supporter of a constitutional monarchy, he recognized the new republic, considering it, under the circumstances, the only way to preserve civil liberties.
French Foreign Minister
After the revolution of 1848, Alexis de Tocqueville was elected to the Constituent Assembly. In it, he joined the right and began to fight the socialists. Especially stubbornly the thinker defended the right to property. The attacks on him by the socialists, Tocqueville believed, could lead to an encroachment on the freedoms of the inhabitants of the country and an excessive expansion of state functions. Fearing despotism, he advocated limiting presidential power, establishing a bicameral parliament, etc. None of these proposals were put into practice.
In 1849, Alexis de Tocqueville, whose biography, as a politician, was short-lived, was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Odilon Barrot. The head of the diplomatic department saw his main task in preserving the Frenchinfluence in neighboring Italy. Just then, the long process of creating a unified state was ending on the Apeninnes Peninsula. In this regard, a conflict broke out between the Catholic Church and the secular authorities of the new Italy.
Alexis de Tocqueville, whose main ideas were to preserve the independent power of the Pope, tried to achieve smooth internal reforms in the Papal States. He failed to achieve this, because just a few months after the start of the work of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the entire Barro cabinet resigned due to another political scandal related to the President's letter to Ney.
Cessation of social activities
On December 2, 1851, another coup d'état took place in France. President Louis Napoleon dissolved Parliament and received almost monarchical powers. A year later, the republic was abolished, and the creation of the Second Empire was announced instead. Alexis de Tocqueville, whose reports and publications just warned of the danger of such a turn of events, was among the last to resist the new state system. For disobedience to the authorities, he was planted in the Vincennes prison. Soon Tocqueville was released, but he was finally cut off from political activity.
The writer took advantage of the free time that fell on him and engaged in a historical study of the events of the great revolution at the end of the 18th century. The coup of December 2 reminded him of the coup of 18 Brumaire, in which Napoleon had once gained unlimited power. In the formed situationthe thinker blamed the wrong political system, in which people who were not accustomed to enjoying political freedoms received equal rights, including voting rights.
Old order and revolution
After several years of work, in 1856 Tocqueville published the first volume of The Old Order and Revolution, which eventually became his second most important work (after Democracy in America). The book was supposed to consist of three parts, but death stopped the writer during his work on the second of them.
The main object of Tocqueville's research was the freedom of the individual. He considered saving and correct the principle of non-intervention of the state in the economy. The thinker did not see people's freedom without centuries of enlightenment and education of people. Without it, no constitutional institutions will work, the author believed. He clearly for the reader traced the validity of this principle on the example of the very Great Revolution in France at the end of the 18th century.
Alexis de Tocqueville, whose smart phrases are still used in journalism, journalism or textbooks, considered freedom and equality to be the basis of democracy. At the same time, peoples strive more for the second than for the first. Many people, noted Tocqueville, are even ready to sacrifice freedom for the sake of equality. With such sentiments, conditions arise for the establishment of despotism. Equality can isolate people, develop egoism and particularism in them. Alexis de Tocqueville noted all this in his book.
The work "The Old Order and Revolution" also included considerations aboutsociety's passion for profit. Accustomed to consume people are ready to give the government more and more powers just to keep it calm, order and habitual way of life. Thus, the power of the state penetrates deeper and deeper into public life, making the individual less independent. The means of this is administrative centralization, which eradicates local self-government.
Tyranny of the masses
In the theses of "The Old Order and Revolution", the theory of democracy already begun in the first book of the author was developed. Alexis de Tocqueville briefly but succinctly expounded ideas, many of which formed the basis of modern political science. In the new work, the writer continued to study the phenomenon of the tyranny of the majority of the people. It becomes more and more distinct in the event that the state has to wage war.
During periods of prolonged bloodshed, there is a danger of the appearance of a commander who decides to take power in the country into his own hands. One such example was Napoleon. At the same time, the people, tired of the war, will gladly give the candidate for the status of national leader all their freedoms in exchange for the promise of stability and future general enrichment. Therefore, populist slogans have always been popular, even despite their objective unrealizability.
The only way to prevent despotism is freedom itself. It is she who brings people together, weakening egoism and tearing them away from material interests. A constitutional democratic system alone is not enough here. The ideal state shouldbased on a broad decentralization of power. Therefore, for a large country, the best way to organize is a federation. So thought Alexis de Tocqueville. He derived the concept of an ideal state based on the historical mistakes made by his native France and many other countries from around the world.
Benefits of decentralization
Only local self-government is able to save people from bureaucratic guardianship and force them to engage in their own political education. An ideal state cannot do without completely independent courts and the jurisdiction of the administration in case of its abuse. It is this institution that should be given the right to reject laws that are contrary to the constitution and the rights of citizens.
Alexis de Tocqueville, whose quotes quickly dispersed through the books of his contemporaries and descendants, also stood up for complete freedom of association and the press. At the same time, the guarantee that the state will not encroach on them is not institutions, but the mores and habits of people. If the population has a request for freedom, it will be preserved. In the event of a voluntary renunciation of their rights by citizens, no constitution will help them. At the same time, one should not forget that this pattern also has an opposite end. Institutions influence the gradual formation of customs and mores.
The Importance of Tocqueville
Trying to figure out how to write a book and how to give a talk, Alexis de Tocqueville came up with the following solution. ATin a work about America, he described in detail how democracy became possible overseas and what contributed to it. In his work on France, the researcher dwelled on the reasons for the failure of attempts to establish and strengthen civil freedom.
The old order Alexis de Tocqueville photographically called the system that developed in his country in the 18th century when the estate feudal society and royal absolutism merged. The government maintained the division of society into classes, seeing it as a guarantee of its own safety. The population was divided into strata, the members of which, as a rule, were diligently isolated from other strata. The peasant did not in any way resemble a townsman, and the merchant did not resemble a nobleman-landowner. Gradual democratization and economic growth put an end to this. The revolution destroyed the old order, founding a new one - built on the equality of people among themselves.
Interestingly, Tocqueville's work was recognized by contemporaries as the first neutral book about the events of the late 18th century in France. Before him, historians published studies that defended one side or another of the revolutionary conflict.
It is precisely because of this difference that the work of Alexis de Tocqueville, and indeed all his publications, have earned the recognition of posterity and have been preserved in historical memory. He did not try to justify the actions of monarchists or supporters of the republic - he wanted to find the truth based on facts. Tocqueville died on April 16, 1859 in Cannes. His services to science and society were appreciated by the publication of a complete collection of works, which went through additional reprints many times.
