It’s the birthday of French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville, born in Paris (1805). He’s the author of Democracy in America (1835), in which he wrote about the court system, the role of religion, education, business, race relations, associations, and every other detail that went into American democracy and the character of Americans.
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July 30, 2010 at 09:35
Joe Falcone
Is this book translated into English? If so and you have a copy to lend I would read it….
July 30, 2010 at 10:07
applewoody
Don’t have book, but had lifted this quote for an essay for the Chi. Literary Club: And importantly, all this should not be a partisan issue, but one of patriotism and principle. A popular vote for the presidency would be a meaningful step in restoring lost pride in and respect for our democracy, as we embrace the tumultuous 21st century. The rich and lively political mosaic of America deserves no less than a better presidential election process, so we might live up to the dictionary’s definition of democracy, “the belief in freedom and equality between people.”
It took a perceptive Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, writing about his visit to our heartland just 46 years after the Constitutional Convention, to observe, “America demonstrates invincibly one thing I had doubted up to now: that their middle class can govern a state…Despite their small passions, their incomplete education, their vulgar habits, they can obviously provide a practical sort of intelligence, and that turns out to be enough.”
Perhaps, that’s truer today than it was then. I hope you’re inclined to believe, as am I, that we’ve all experienced one red and blue collage too many. Isn’t now the time for a mosaic which honestly reflects the people’s choices, and might help us feel that each vote fully counts?
Echoing the rhetoric of a Great Communicator, I’ll close with an ardent admonition to the voters and America’s new leadership: Open the gate to democracy. Tear down this wall of an Electoral College, which stands in between you and your president!