Tocqueville’s Politics of Grandeur
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7973191 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gianna Englert (0000-0003-2609-276X, Southern Methodist University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 477-503 |
| Publication date | 2022-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0090-5917 • E-ISSN: 1552-7476 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00905917211043790 |
| OpenAlex | W3199059692 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 37 |
In his defenses of empire, Alexis de Tocqueville emphasized the need to achieve grandeur for France, and his writings on Algeria have shaped our understanding of his political career. In pursuing empire abroad as a remedy for weak politics at home, scholars maintain that Tocqueville abandoned the participatory politics of Democracy in America. This essay argues, however, that the focus on Tocqueville’s international turn has obscured his interest in the greatness of domestic party politics. It demonstrates that Tocqueville championed a version of grandeur tied to the latent energies of the lower classes and distinct from the Bonapartism and aristocratic nostalgia that characterized his thoughts on empire. This version of grandeur was a political reclamation of disagreement and debate that supported great party opposition to counter the malaise of bourgeois rule. The essay concludes by comparing Tocqueville’s attitude toward foreign others, whose freedoms had to be sacrificed to the cause of French nationalism, with his description of the lower classes within his own nation, whose inclusion in the franchise could foster great politics. This comparison enables us to draw modest lessons for interpreting political grandeur in the present day
Art · Bourgeoisie · Democracy · Empire · Greatness · Literature · Nationalism · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · European Political History Analysis · Law · Political Theory and Influence
When the French Tried to be British
Tocqueville's Political Economy
Ledru-Rollin and the Second French Republic
Dictatorship in History and Theory
What Was Universal Suffrage
Empire and Democracy
Alexis de Tocqueville
Le grand mal de l'époque
Tocqueville’s algeria
"Reconsidering Tocqueville's "Democracy in America
Tocqueville between Two Worlds
Tocqueville, Democracy, and Religion
Tocqueville’s Savages
Tocqueville and the politics of Suffrage
Tocqueville and Marx
Tocqueville on Algeria
Tocqueville and Le Commerce
The Idea of Rights
The Demands of Glory
The Dark Side of Tocqueville
Colonial Violence And The Rhetoric Of Evasion
Brothers and Others
Liberalism Under Siege
A Turn to Empire
Memory, Legend and Politics
Empire's Law
Colonization and Democracy
The French Banquet Campaign of 1847-48
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |