Democracy in America is from the MODG 12th grade Advanced American Government and Economics class.

Democracy in America is a historical book outlining how the religious mores and ways of life of the early American settlers gave rise to the least utilized form of government since the time of Ancient Rome: the rule of the people. 

Alexis de Tocqueville, being himself a Frenchman, provides a unique perspective on the early Americans. Living among them for some time allowed him to see in what ways they had diverged from the Europeans and how these characteristics they developed paved the way for the popular form of government. Tocqueville offers little in the way of his own opinion on democracy but gives a refreshingly clear and simple account of it: how it came to be, and all the good and evil that can come from it. He does this with an eye to being able to adapt the democratic rule to other governments in other circumstances; he treats of America in detail because this is where democracy had attained its purest form and had become something of that ideal that France had been craving for so long. However, Tocqueville also sees the flaws of such a strong democratic tendency, and predicts, with an accuracy only the modern reader is aware of, how these will lead to its demise. This book, along with St. Thomas’s treatise on law and the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers, is vital for analyzing any government and developing an informed judgment about its character and laws. The student that thinks analytically will enjoy its clear and persuasive language about a subject he is already familiar with at this point in the curriculum, namely American history. 

Recommended by Evelyn Montanaro, MODG Office Staff and Alumna.

Buy Democracy in America from the MODG Bookstore