A Revolution in Property
Tocqueville and Beaumont on Democratic Inheritance Reform
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12740227 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Thomas James Holland (0000-0002-5284-3304, University of Cambridge, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 23-51 |
| Publication date | 2023-09-26 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Modern Intellectual History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1479-2443 • E-ISSN: 1479-2451 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1479244323000173 |
| OpenAlex | W4387059433 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 7 |
Among the most controversial reforms investigated by Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont was the idea of using inheritance as an instrument to diffuse property ownership. This article offers the first comparative account of the development of this concept across each of their major works. By situating their interventions within wider inheritance law debates, it is demonstrated how their evolving visions of democracy forced them to innovatively combine two normative arguments: (i) diffusing property ownership via inheritance was a precondition for placing democracy upon stable political foundations, and (ii) this could counter the rise of pauperism and the extreme wealth inequality of nineteenth-century industrial society. Far from being an anachronistic republican notion, such reforms were long considered too radical to be implemented in England and Ireland
Anachronism · Democracy · Epistemology · Genealogy · Inequality · Inheritance (genetic algorithm · Law and economics · Normative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Precondition · Property (philosophy · Sociology · Vision · Anthropology · European Political History Analysis · History · Law · Legal and Social Philosophy · Philosophy · Political Theory and Influence
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |