Perspective

Alexis de Tocqueville is an important French historian and political theorist of the mid-nineteenth century. He was born in Paris in 1805, the son of a royalist who worked as an administrator in various cities before being appointed as the prefect (mayor) of Versailles in 1826. Raised by a fervent Catholic mother, Alexis studied philosophy and law and eventually became an apprentice magistrate (judge) in the court of Versailles. He believed that France's aristocratic regime was on the decline and destined to be replaced by a more democratic form of government. In 1830, the French government sent him, along with his friend and collaborator Gustave de Beaumont, on a 9 months study trip to America in order to report on the nation's ongoing reform of the penal system, and its possible application to the French society. According to various notes taken from his personal journal, it appears that Tocqueville's primary interest in...