“Plus ça change…”
Innovation and the Spirit of Enterprise in America
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17411006 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christine Dunn Henderson (0000-0002-2456-800X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 67 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 753-774 |
| Publication date | 2005-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Review of Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-6705 • E-ISSN: 1748-6858 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0034670500035701 |
| OpenAlex | W2070141448 |
| Language | FR |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 8 |
Tocqueville describes the spirit of enterprise—along with the taste for material well-being—as “the distinctive characteristic” of the American people. This paper explores the American spirit of innovation and enterprise, beginning with the centrality of this spirit for America's commercial greatness. Tocqueville observes that the taste for innovation is a part of American national character, and its roots can be traced to the equality of conditions which characterizes democratic life. But the same equality of conditions which promotes the spirit of innovation also can also threaten it, for equality of conditions paradoxically encourages individuals both to rely upon their own judgment and to defer to the majority's. Although the effects of the spirit of innovation in the commercial realm are positive, its effects on other aspects of American life are more ambiguous
Aesthetics · Character (mathematics) · Democracy · Environmental ethics · Greatness · Political science · Politics · Realm · Sociology · Taste · Law · Philosophy · Political Economy and Marxism · Political Theory and Influence · Psychology · Social Psychology · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,13 |
| Citation span | 2011 - 2025 (15) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |