Kevin L. Doolie writes about Alexis De Tocqueville and his political theories and says that De Tocqueville was right in thinking that early American colonies heavily influenced the rest of America. The religious thought and belief for a ruling authority connected them to realize that they needed a government to have…
The great social theorist and philosopher, Isaiah Berlin once stated, “Injustice, poverty, slavery, ignorance - these may be cured by reform or revolution. But men do not live only by fighting evils. They live by positive goals, individual and collective, a vast variety of them, seldom predictable, at times incompatible.” In simpler terms, Berlin is saying that to cure injustice and poverty, men may use revolution and reform but they cannot “live only by fighting evils”, they must also live by positive goals that protect society’s interests as a whole and not become guided by their own ignorance. And it is for these reasons that Maximilien Robespierre’s Reign of Terror was not justified.…
James Madison and Alexis de Tocqueville are both giants in American political theory and both have deliberated extensively on the tyranny of the majority in democratic societies. Since both are from different eras, the way each of them talk about the problem is framed in different terms and different contexts. Madison offers a solution to a perceived problem, and Tocqueville observes and critiques the solution. In the many Federalist Papers Madison published on the issue, there is one solution that is most conductive to reducing the powers of the tyranny of the majority, and this is solution is the checks and balances between the separate branches of government and between the federal and state governments. Tocqueville’s assessment of this attempted restraint is poor, he sees the government as becoming increasingly centralized in power and state and local governments losing their prestige and influence.…
Revolution comes at a time when the people are tired of a governmental structure, foreseeable overthrow of the government and a forceable social order in favor of a new system. Hanna Ardent’s book On Revolution touched the topic of revolution and the order of importance in which to have a successful one, much like the American Revolution. Ardent called it the social question which she refers to as the existence of poverty. Ardent argued that in order to have a lucrative revolution one has to put political issues first and economic issues in the back seat. She used the example of the French Revolution, where Robespierre made necessity the back bone of the whole revolution when the Sans-Culottes demanded their basic necessities be met rather…
Revolutions are seen by many as an inevitable part of many societies. They allow both the people and societies to progress and advance. One of these revolutions was the French Revolution, which led to the downfall of monarchies in other parts of Europe. The French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s. The revolution began with people wanting small reforms, such as changes to the system of taxation; leading to a complete change, transforming every aspect of French citizen’s lives, including for a short time, calendars and clocks.…
In Origin of Inequality, Rousseau describes the evolution into society almost like a trickster (the rich) fooling his mark (the poor). In time, individuals would amass land and cattle at the sake of another, leading to “dominion and slavery, or violence and rapine” (Rousseau 1755, 29). This series of conflicts prompted the rich into devising a plan to “employ in his favour the forces of those who attacked him” and to “give them other institutions as favourable to himself as the law of nature was unfavourable” (Rousseau 1755, 30). These institutions which the rich persuaded the poor into entering came the society that brought them out of the State of Nature. The impetus for moving from the prior state to the society was one of greed on part…
In this paper I am going to summarize Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “Discourse on the Origin of Inequality” in which Rousseau theorizes that inequality is not a natural event, but an unfortunate byproduct of modern life. I will then provide a criticism of Rousseau’s argument, focusing on his decision to not discuss the relationship between natural and moral inequality. This criticism will then be countered by a theorized response from Rousseau’s perspective. The general argument presented by Rousseau is that the establishment of civil society and the associated progress of humanity is the underlying cause for the inequality between men.…
“What Alexis de Tocqueville saw in America was a society of immigrants, each of whom had begun life anew, on an equal footing. This was the secret of America: a nation of people with the fresh memory of old traditions who dared to explore new frontiers, people eager to build lives for themselves in a spacious society that did not restrict their freedom of choice and action” (Kennedy, p. 2, 2008) This spoke to me as a significant passage because, I think that this was the crux of what a lot of kids, including myself, were taught in school. This is what this country stands for, the land of opportunity and a place where old traditions can live on in the melting pot or the mixed salad of cultures. I admit that there are times that I have let cynicism…
Both Alexis de Tocqueville and Karl Marx examine the social change that nations go through either as a result of democracy diminishing Aristocratic ages or because of the wide spread of industrial capitalism. However, Marx and Tocqueville observe the impact of these social changes on the community differently. Marx writings are about how the European world was changing during his lifespan. He observes how the beginning of the Industrial Revolution creates an increase in the level of economic production, but also an immense increase of inequality in a society. On the contrary, Tocqueville analyzes the relationship between equality and liberty during the democratic ages vs. the aristocratic ages.…
The period of industrialization influenced the three classical sociological theorists, Marx, Durkheim and Weber. Marx thought of industrialization in the most negative of ways compared to the other sociological theorists. With the rise of industrialization, the social classes changed to who was related to the mean of production, so the owners of the factories and machinery were called the bourgeois, who had more power than the proletariat, those working in the factories, creating the product. With this class distinction, Marx believed that it would lead to problems and conflict between the classes, because each class had their own interest, for instance, the bourgeoisie might be more interested in creating a product faster and cheaper, while…
Modernity is the change in the society in all areas past second world war. The world changed drastically after the war. The economies ceased to be communistic and became capitalistic. Industrialization set in and became the source of revenue for many countries. The world changed in all areas, from personal lives to the way governments run.…
During the French Revolution society was made up of three separate phases. The three that are brought up are the Moderate Phase, the Radical Phase, and the Thermidor Phase. The people of the French Revolution created the phases to change the form of government and society. The Moderate phase and Radical phase can be shown throughout the French Revolution. The Moderate Phase existed to form a new form of government known as a monarchy.…
It is important to note the definition of equality in Tocqueville's time is different from equality today. During this time, primo geniture came to an end. This meant there was no longer any family bloodline in land ownership. Land ownership was longer the defining characteristic between social classes. Now, there was more mobility to move in between social classes.…
Metternich's attitude to progress is the strength of human minds which "having been accelerated more rapidly" (Metternich, 5) from the series of revolutions due to the fatal errors of countries in their traditional ways. This relates to the notions of progress put forward by Enlightenment, for humans aren't being held back by the church in that their minds have strengthened knowing the Earth isn't the center of the universe anymore, for example. This progress also relates to the French Revolution for the last phase after Thermidorian Reaction is the reign of Bonaparte, who sets forth the ideals the revolution started with, including civil code, and many revolutionary principles. The greatest threats Europe faces, according to Metternich, are…
1. The sociological perspective is a way of viewing and approaching a particular phenomena occurring between individuals and the structures of the society in which they live. It includes three methods, or practices, of approach: beginner’s mind, culture shock, and sociological imagination. The similarity that these three methods have, are that each involve opening our minds to new ways of viewing the world and the processes through which we conduct our daily lives. Beginner’s mind is a method of approaching the world through the absence of preconceptions.…