 Alexis de Tocqueville and the American Character: The Problem of Reconciling Excellence and ConsentNeal Riemer Publius: The Journal of Federalism, vol. 31, issue 1, 27-36 Abstract: Although Tocqueville was deeply concerned about the adverse consequences of democratic equality and the tyranny of the majority, he nonethless believed that the character of the American people-reinforced by America's customs, laws, circumstances, constitutional heritage, and favorable geography-would help Americans to achieve a decent, liberal, constitutional polity. Culturally, however, Americans were deficient in reconciling excellence and consent. Less friendly critics have argued that a democracy cannot reconcile excellence and consent. It is, however, possible to move beyond Tocqueville's qualified confidence in American democracy, and his reservations about the ability of Americans to reconcile excellence and consent, by arguing that there is a fundamental concord between excellence and consent, that there is significant popular acceptance and practice of excellence in a democracy, and that creative democratic leadership can advance excellence in a democratic society. Copyright , Oxford University Press. References: Add references at CitEc Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:publus:v:31:y::i:1:p:27-36 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Publius: The Journal of Federalism is currently edited by Paul Nolette and Philip Rocco More articles in Publius: The Journal of Federalism from CSF Associates Inc. Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK. |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.