meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
In Our Time

Tocqueville: Democracy in America

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.69.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2018

⏱️ 51 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) and his examination of the American democratic system. He wrote De La Démocratie en Amérique in two parts, published in 1835 and 1840, when France was ruled by the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe. Tocqueville was interested in how aspects of American democracy, in the age of President Andrew Jackson, could be applied to Europe as it moved away from rule by monarchs and aristocrats. His work has been revisited by politicians ever since, particularly in America, with its analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of direct democracy and its warnings of mediocrity and the tyranny of the majority. With Robert Gildea Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford Susan-Mary Grant Professor of American History at Newcastle University and Jeremy Jennings Professor of Political Theory and Head of the School of Politics & Economics at King's College London Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is the BBC.

0:02.0

Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time.

0:05.0

There's a reading list to go with it on our website.

0:07.0

And you can get news about our programs if you follow us on Twitter at BBC In Our Time.

0:12.0

I hope you enjoyed the program.

0:14.0

Hello, in 1831, Alexis De Tockville sailed from France to America

0:18.0

to learn how its democracy worked.

0:21.0

And therefore, what his own country might expect when inevitably, as he saw it,

0:24.0

democracy spread there.

0:26.0

In Aristocrat, he was worried that American democracy valued equality more than liberty,

0:31.0

that the majority could turn as the minority once subverted being one,

0:35.0

and that the people could easily elected the spotted charismatic leader who would undermine democracy.

0:40.0

In 1835, Tockville's report Democracy in America was published,

0:45.0

and with this he hoped that France could avoid the same traps,

0:48.0

as it moved, falteringly onwards from monarchy and aristocracy after revolution and Napoleon.

0:53.0

When we did discuss Tockville's democracy in America,

0:56.0

are Robert Guilde, Professor of Modern History at University of Oxford,

1:00.0

Susan Mary Grant, Professor of American History at Newcastle University,

1:04.0

and Jeremy Jennings, Professor of Political Theory and Head of the School

1:08.0

of Politics and Economics at King's College London.

1:11.0

Robert Guilde, who was Alexis De Tockville?

1:14.0

Well, as you say, Tockville was a French noble.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.