Democracy in America: In Two Volumes

Contents

ix Contents Translator’s Note xxi Key Terms xxvi Foreword xxviii Map xliv Editor’s Introduction xlvii Foreword to This Edition cli DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1835) volume i Introduction 3 Part I chapter 1: Exterior Configuration of North America 33 chapter 2: Of the Point of Departure and Its Importance for the Future of the Anglo-Americans 45 Reasons for Some Singularities That the Laws and Customs of the Anglo-Americans Present 71 chapter 3: Social State of the Anglo-Americans 74 That the Salient Point of the Social State of the Anglo-Americans Is to Be Essentially Democratic 75 x contents Political Consequences of the Social State of the Anglo-Americans 89 chapter 4: Of the Principle of the Sovereignty of the People in America 91 chapter 5: Necessity of Studying What Happens in the Individual States before Speaking about the Government of the Union 98 Of the Town System in America 99 Town District 103 Town Powers in New England 104 Of Town Life 108 Of Town Spirit in New England 110 Of the County in New England 114 Of Administration in New England 115 General Ideas on Administration in the United States 129 Of the State 135 Legislative Power of the State 136 Of the Executive Power of the State 139 Of the Political Effects of Administrative Decentralization in the United States 142 chapter 6: Of the Judicial Power in the United States and Its Action on Political Society 167 Other Powers Granted to American Judges 176 chapter 7: Of Political Jurisdiction in the United States 179 chapter 8: Of the Federal Constitution 186 Historical Background of the Federal Constitution 186 Summary Picture of the Federal Constitution 191 Attributions of the Federal Government 193 Federal Powers 195 Legislative Powers 196 [Difference between the Constitution of the Senate and That of the House of Representatives] Another Difference between the Senate and the House of Representatives 200 contents xi Of Executive Power 201 How the Position of the President of the United States Differs from That of a Constitutional King in France 204 Accidental Causes That Can Increase the Influence of the Executive Power 209 Why the President of the United States, to Lead Public Affairs, Does Not Need to Have a Majority in the Chambers 210 Of the Election of the President 211 Mode of Election 218 Election Crisis 222 Of the Re-election of the President 225 Of the Federal Courts 229 Way of Determining the Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts 234 Different Cases of Jurisdiction 236 The Federal Courts’ Way of Proceeding 241 Elevated Rank That the Supreme Court Occupies among the Great Powers of the State 244 How the Federal Constitution Is Superior to the State Constitutions 246 What Distinguishes the Federal Constitution of the United States of America from All Other Federal Constitutions 251 Of the Advantages of the Federal System in General, and of Its Special Utility for America 255 What Keeps the Federal System from Being within the Reach of All Peoples; And What Has Allowed the Anglo-Americans to Adopt It 263 Part II chapter 1: How It Can Be Strictly Said That in the United States It Is the People Who Govern 278 chapter 2: Of Parties in the United States 279 Of the Remnants of the Aristocratic Party in the United States 287 chapter 3: Of Freedom of the Press in the United States 289 That the Opinions Established under the Dominion of Freedom of the Press in the United States Are Often More Tenacious than Those That Are Found Elsewhere under the Dominion of Censorship 298 xii contents chapter 4: Of Political Association in the United States 302 Different Ways in Which the Right of Association Is Understood in Europe and in the United States, and the Different Use That Is Made of That Right 309 chapter 5: Of the Government of Democracy in America 313 Of Universal Suffrage 313 Of the Choices of the People and of the Instincts of American Democracy in Its Choices 314 Of the Causes That Can Partially Correct These Democratic Instincts 318 Influence That American Democracy Has Exercised on Electoral Laws 322 Of Public Officials under the Dominion of American Democracy 324 Of the Arbitrariness of Magistrates under the Dominion of American Democracy 327 Administrative Instability in the United States 331 Of Public Expenses under the Dominion of American Democracy 333 Of the Instincts of American Democracy in Determining the...