Alexis de Tocqueville

Wang Huning and Alexis de Tocqueville’s dark vision of the future.

In contrast to feudal society, where everyone, lord or serf, remained rooted to the land, and words were ‘passed on'.

Tocqueville understood how constitutional review, without meaningful checks, could enable judicial despotism.

Alexis de Tocqueville left France to study the American prison system and returned with the material that would become “Democracy in America.”

Liberalism’s relationship to equality has, his­torically, been far from a warm embrace.

The US Supreme Court's most recent decisions undermine centuries of established secularism within American government.

American government succeeded, Tocqueville thought, because it didn’t empower the people too much.

Black archivists, activists, and artists are fighting for justice and ethical remembrance — and reimagining the archive itself.

Reflections on Alexander Hamilton, Alexis de Tocqueville, and the power of the presidency.

How the New England town became the mythical landscape of American democracy.

Looking to the French Revolution and the writings of Tocqueville for insight into Trump’s America.

Dickens, Tocqueville, and the U.N. all agree about this American invention: It’s torture.

The rise and fall of the Post Office from Tocqueville to Fred Rogers.

A Civil War-era push for unity helped transform a little-known geographic boundary into a powerful symbol of American identity.

Revisiting U.S. attitudes toward the Cherokee shows how the rhetoric of oppressors stays consistent. The rationalizations for ethnic cleansing do not change.

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, our founding charter remains central to our national life.

The political coalition that has formed under Trump’s banner has the potential to reshape American politics.

The “Jewish Question” is a scapegoating conspiracy. This essay traces its appeal, partial truths, and why it falsely absolves America of blame.

Restoring stability to American politics will require reviving an age-old concept: common ground.

If we imagine religion as a technology, argues Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith, we can better see the cause of its decline: obsolescence.