Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat, captured the essence of nineteenth-century America in his penetrating work, Democracy in America. The democratic concept of equality was emerging as a political reality in America, and it threatened the aristocracy of Europe; it produced a society of individualists hungry for self improvement. In this classic treatise, Tocqueville weighed the advantages of democracy against its dangers. He asked: Is the tendency toward equality a tendency toward liberty? Can the majority be restrained to protect the freedom of individuals and minorities?
In pondering these questions, Tocqueville presented an unsurpassed picture of American government, culture, and attitudes. He proclaimed a new nation with a new theory of human interaction: America, ruled by the will of the majority.
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" Interesting commentary - thought this was the original source. It wasn't but it filled in a lot of good background information. "
— Scott, 3/18/2012" Interesting commentary - thought this was the original source. It wasn't but it filled in a lot of good background information. "
— Scott, 3/14/2010Ralph Raico is professor emeritus of European history at Buffalo State College in New York. He received his doctorate from the University of Chicago, Committee on Social Thought, where the head of his dissertation committee was Friedrich Hayek. He has written numerous articles and essays in scholarly journals and is the translator of Ludwig von Mises’ Liberalism and of essays contained in Hayek’s Collected Works. Dr. Raico was editor of the New Individualist Review and senior editor of Inquiry. He has lectured throughout Europe, the United States, and Canada and is a senior faculty member at the Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Joseph Stromberg is a research fellow at the Independent Institute and has held the JoAnn B. Rothbard chair in history at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He received his BA and MA from Florida Atlantic University, and his further graduate work was completed at the University of Florida.
George H. Smith is an author, editor, educator, and speaker. His first book was the very popular Atheism: The Case against God. Smith began teaching in the 1970s and for nearly twenty years spent his summers instructing university students in political philosophy and American political and intellectual history at seminars sponsored by the Cato Institute and the Institute for Humane Studies. His many articles and book reviews have appeared in a wide range of publications, including Reason, the New York Times, and the Journal of Libertarian Studies.
Paul Meier, MD, is a psychiatrist at the Meier Clinics in Richardson, Texas, and the author of more than eighty books, including Love Is a Choice, Happiness Is a Choice, Blue Genes, and Everything I Learned Since I Knew It All. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs over the past thirty years, including shows with Oprah, Tom Snyder, Norman Vincent Peale, Joyce Meyer, Sheila Walsh, Paula White, and many others. He is also the founder of the national chain of counseling clinics called the Meier Clinics, a nonprofit corporation.
Paul Meier, MD, is a psychiatrist at the Meier Clinics in Richardson, Texas, and the author of more than eighty books, including Love Is a Choice, Happiness Is a Choice, Blue Genes, and Everything I Learned Since I Knew It All. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs over the past thirty years, including shows with Oprah, Tom Snyder, Norman Vincent Peale, Joyce Meyer, Sheila Walsh, Paula White, and many others. He is also the founder of the national chain of counseling clinics called the Meier Clinics, a nonprofit corporation.
Louis Rukeyser (1933–2006), narrator of the Great Economic Thinkers and the Secrets of the Great Investors series, was recognized as America’s most popular economic commentator. He was known and admired for his ability to discuss economics in a lively and insightful way.