Alexis de Tocqueville and the Art of Democratic Statesmanship

by Brian Danoff (Editor), L. Joseph Hebert (Editor), Derek Barker (Contribution by), Richard Boyd (Contribution by), Paul Carresse (Contribution by)

Overview

In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville famously called for 'a new political science' that could address the problems and possibilities of a 'world itself quite new.' For Tocqueville, the democratic world needed not just a new political science but also new arts of statesmanship and leadership. In this volume, Brian Danoff and L. Joseph Hebert, Jr., have brought together a diverse set of essays revealing that Tocqueville's understanding of democratic statesmanship remains highly relevant today. The first chapter of the book is a new translation of Tocqueville's 1852 address to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, in which Tocqueville offers a profound exploration of the relationship between theory and practice, and between statesmanship and political philosophy. Subsequent chapters explore the relationship between Tocqueville's ideas on statesmanship, on the one hand, and the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Montesquieu, the Puritans, the Framers of the U.S. Constitution, Oakeshott, Willa Cather, and the Second Vatican Council, on the other. Timely and provocative, these essays show the relevance of Tocqueville's theory of statesmanship for thinking about such contemporary issues as the effects of NG's on civic life, the powers of the American presidency, the place of the jury in a democratic polity, the role of religion in public life, the future of democracy in Europe, and the proper balance between liberalism and realism in foreign policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739145302
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	12/13/2010
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	350
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Brian Danoff is assistant professor of political science, Miami University. L. Joseph Hebert, Jr. is associate professor and chair of political science at St. Ambrose University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction Brian Danoff 1

Part I Statesmanship and Political Philosophy

1 Speech Given to the Annual Public Meeting of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences on April 3, 1852 Alexis de Tocqueville 17

2 Leading by Leaving Susan McWilliams 31

3 Aristotle and Tocqueville on Statesmanship Aristide Tessitore 49

4 Machiavelli and Tocqueville on Majority Tyranny Khalil M. Habib 73

5 Montesquieu, Tocqueville, and the Politics of Mores F. Flagg Taylor 93

6 Intellectuals and Statesmanship? Tocqueville, Oakeshott, and the Distinction between Theoretical and Practical Knowledge Richard Boyd Conor Williams 117

Part II Statesmanship and Government

7 Tocqueville's View of the American Presidency and the Limits of Democratic Statesmanship William B. Parsons, Jr. 139

8 Changing the People, Not Simply the President: The Limitations and Possibilities of the Obama Presidency, in Tocquevillian Perspective Thad Williamson 155

9 Moderating the Penal State through Citizen Participation: A Neo-Tocquevillian Perspective on Court Professionals and Juries in a Democracy Albert W. Dzur 179

Part III Statesmanship Outside of Government

10 From Associations to Organizations: Tocqueville, NGOs, and the Colonization of Civic Leadership Derek Barker 205

11 The Tragedy of American Progress: Alexis de Tocqueville and Willa Cather's My Àntonia Jon D. Schaff 225

12 The Catholic Church in the Modern World: A Tocquevillian Analysis of Vatican II L. Joseph Hebert, Jr. 247

13 Tocqueville on How to Praise the Puritans Today Peter Augustine Lawler 279

Part IV Statesmanship Abroad

14 Tocqueville's Foreign Policy of Moderation and Democracy Expansion Paul Carrese 299

15 The Twofold Challenge for Democratic Culture in Our Time Thomas L. Pangle 323

Index 333

About the Contributors 339

Editorial Reviews

At a time when the forces of administrative despotism are on the march and Winfreyesque rhetoric passes for moral leadership and intellectual sophistication, Brian Danoff and Joseph Hebert have assembled a compelling collection of timely essays on the political thought of Alexis de Tocqueville, that liberal thinker of the first rank who endeavored to see "further than the parties" without any pretense to postpartisanship, who understood that more democracy is not always the answer to every problem of democracy, and who concerned himself with educating democratic peoples so that they may live together as free citizens rather than exist independently as dependent subjects. This fine collection situates Tocqueville within the history of ideas, ancient and modern, and examines the significance of his observations, predictions, and prescriptions as they pertain to a wide variety of topics with contemporary relevance. The essays in this volume give articulation the proper relationship between political theory, political science, and political practice, emphasizing the necessity for genuine republican statesmanship while honestly wondering about its chances given the trajectory of late modern America.--Travis D. Smith, Concordia University, Montreal

From the Publisher

At a time when the forces of administrative despotism are on the march and Winfreyesque rhetoric passes for moral leadership and intellectual sophistication, Brian Danoff and Joseph Hebert have assembled a compelling collection of timely essays on the political thought of Alexis de Tocqueville, that liberal thinker of the first rank who endeavored to see further than the parties without any pretense to postpartisanship, who understood that more democracy is not always the answer to every problem of democracy, and who concerned himself with educating democratic peoples so that they may live together as free citizens rather than exist independently as dependent subjects. This fine collection situates Tocqueville within the history of ideas, ancient and modern, and examines the significance of his observations, predictions, and prescriptions as they pertain to a wide variety of topics with contemporary relevance. The essays in this volume give articulation to the proper relationship between political theory, political science, and political practice, emphasizing the necessity for genuine republican statesmanship while honestly wondering about its chances given the trajectory of late modern America.

Travis D. Smith