Patterns of Causal Analysis in Tocqueville's Democracy in America

Abstract

Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America was written to persuade his French compatriots that their fears of American-style democracy were ungrounded. In pursuing this end, Tocqueville used a number of models of political psychology and social causality. His marshaling of models of causal mechanisms to persuade his readers is analyzed, the claim being that such an analysis is the primary reason for reading Democracy in America today.