4.5
De la démocratie en Amérique (1) (French Edition)
L'un des caractères distinctifs des siècles démocratiques, c'est le goût qu'y éprouvent tous les hommes pour les succès faciles et les jouissances présentes. Ceci se retrouve dans les carrières intellectuelles comme dans toutes les autres. La plupart de ceux qui vivent dans les temps d'égalité sont pleins d'une ambition tout à la fois vive et molle; ils veulent obtenir sur-le-champ de grands succès, mais ils désireraient se dispenser de grands efforts. Ces instincts contraires les mènent directement à la recherche des idées générales, à l'aide desquelles ils se flattent de peindre de très-vastes objets à peu de frais, et d'attirer les regards du public sans peine. Et je ne sais s'ils ont tort de penser ainsi; car leurs lecteurs craignent autant d'approfondir, qu'ils peuvent le faire eux-mêmes, et ne cherchent d'ordinaire dans les travaux de l'esprit que des plaisirs faciles et de l'instruction sans travail.
DEMOCRACYUNITED STATES_POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
RELEASED1999
PUBLISHERFLAMMARION
LENGTH574
LANGUAGEFR
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Alexis de TocquevilleFrench political thinker and historian, minister of Foreign Affairs (1805-1859)
Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (29 July 1805 – 16 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville, was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist and historian. He is best known for his works *Democracy in America* (appearing in two volumes, 1835 and 1840) and *The Old Regime and the Revolution* (1856). In both, he analysed the improved living standards and social conditions of individuals as well as their relationship to the market and state in Western societies. Democracy in America was published after Tocqueville's travels in the United States and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science. Tocqueville was active in French politics, first under the July Monarchy (1830–1848) and then during the Second Republic (1849–1851) which succeeded the February 1848 Revolution. He retired from political life after Louis Napoléon Bonaparte's 2 December 1851 coup and thereafter began work on *The Old Regime and the Revolution*. Tocqueville argued the importance of the French Revolution was to continue the process of modernizing and centralizing the French state which had begun under King Louis XIV. The failure of the Revolution came from the inexperience of the deputies who were too wedded to abstract Enlightenment ideals. Tocqueville was a classical liberal who advocated parliamentary government and was skeptical of the extremes of democracy. During his time in parliament, he sat on the centre-left, but the complex and restless nature of his liberalism has led to contrasting interpretations and admirers across the political spectrum. Regarding his political position, Tocqueville wrote "the word 'left' is... the word I wanted to attach to my name so that it would remain attached to it forever." **Source**: [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville) on Wikipedia.
4.5
De la démocratie en Amérique (1) (French Edition)
L'un des caractères distinctifs des siècles démocratiques, c'est le goût qu'y éprouvent tous les hommes pour les succès faciles et les jouissances présentes. Ceci se retrouve dans les carrières intellectuelles comme dans toutes les autres. La plupart de ceux qui vivent dans les temps d'égalité sont pleins d'une ambition tout à la fois vive et molle; ils veulent obtenir sur-le-champ de grands succès, mais ils désireraient se dispenser de grands efforts. Ces instincts contraires les mènent directement à la recherche des idées générales, à l'aide desquelles ils se flattent de peindre de très-vastes objets à peu de frais, et d'attirer les regards du public sans peine. Et je ne sais s'ils ont tort de penser ainsi; car leurs lecteurs craignent autant d'approfondir, qu'ils peuvent le faire eux-mêmes, et ne cherchent d'ordinaire dans les travaux de l'esprit que des plaisirs faciles et de l'instruction sans travail.
DEMOCRACYUNITED STATES_POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
RELEASED1999
PUBLISHERFLAMMARION
LENGTH574
LANGUAGEFR
Alexis de TocquevilleFrench political thinker and historian, minister of Foreign Affairs (1805-1859)
Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (29 July 1805 – 16 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville, was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist and historian. He is best known for his works *Democracy in America* (appearing in two volumes, 1835 and 1840) and *The Old Regime and the Revolution* (1856). In both, he analysed the improved living standards and social conditions of individuals as well as their relationship to the market and state in Western societies. Democracy in America was published after Tocqueville's travels in the United States and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science. Tocqueville was active in French politics, first under the July Monarchy (1830–1848) and then during the Second Republic (1849–1851) which succeeded the February 1848 Revolution. He retired from political life after Louis Napoléon Bonaparte's 2 December 1851 coup and thereafter began work on *The Old Regime and the Revolution*. Tocqueville argued the importance of the French Revolution was to continue the process of modernizing and centralizing the French state which had begun under King Louis XIV. The failure of the Revolution came from the inexperience of the deputies who were too wedded to abstract Enlightenment ideals. Tocqueville was a classical liberal who advocated parliamentary government and was skeptical of the extremes of democracy. During his time in parliament, he sat on the centre-left, but the complex and restless nature of his liberalism has led to contrasting interpretations and admirers across the political spectrum. Regarding his political position, Tocqueville wrote "the word 'left' is... the word I wanted to attach to my name so that it would remain attached to it forever." **Source**: [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville) on Wikipedia.
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