Alexis de Tocqueville (review)

This book is part of a series devoted to ‘major conservative and libertarian thinkers’. As is the case in any series of this nature, some of the authors chosen would seem to fit more appropriately into other categories (such as classical liberal thought). Meanwhile, many readers might cringe at seeing the likes of Locke, Hume, or Tocqueville in the same category as Ayn Rand. These caveats aside, the purpose of these short introductory books is to provide an accessible overview of the works and influence of a major author. A Tocqueville specialist (among other things, he has translated L’Ancien Régime et la Révolution (University of Chicago Press, 1998–2001)), Alan Kahan has produced one of the best, combining concision and clarity without sacrificing intellectual depth. As is called for in this type of publication, Kahan has a pithy way of summarizing complex issues: ‘What is essential in Tocqueville are two moral commitments, a commitment to freedom and a commitment to France’ (p. 23); ‘Democracy in America is a book about democracy. America is the setting, not the subject’ (p. 36); ‘For Tocqueville, there is always a choice for human beings to make, and it is always the same choice — whether or not they wish to be free’ (p. 57); ‘His neo-liberalism was not a good fit for his time. It may prove to be a better fit with ours’ (p. 110). Kahan has packed a lot into a small book, providing a biographical outline, a comprehensive introduction to Tocqueville’s works (including the less famous writings, such as on pauperism or Algeria), analyses of how his major works were received and of how his influence has waxed and waned (during his lifetime and since his death in 1859), and an annotated and categorized bibliography. The one element that seems to have received relatively short shrift, through lack of space, is the historical context, particularly in terms of French intellectual and political history. While Chateaubriand and Benjamin Constant are briefly mentioned, for instance, Mme de Staël is not. As Kahan is quick to point out, the author of De la démocratie en Amérique more accurately belongs to the tradition of liberal political thought (Chapter 7 is entitled ‘Tocqueville, the Neo-Liberal’), even though he has more recently been appropriated by conservatives, particularly in the United States. The contemporary relevance of Tocqueville’s works, no doubt enhanced by the collapse of Communism, is highlighted: ‘At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Tocqueville’s reputation and influence are probably greater than ever’ (p. 125). While he was never eclipsed in the United States, his fairly recent return to prominence in France is notable — and indicative of a broader shift in French intellectual history. Kahan’s book is thus doubly meritorious, as it makes available to students and beginning readers of Tocqueville a succinct and well-written presentation of one of the most important political thinkers since the Enlightenment period. It is a pity that such a useful book, which should have a wide readership, is so expensive.