Alexis de Tocqueville · Politics

The Great Democratic Revolution

Tocqueville’s founding insight: that the relentless, centuries-long advance of <em>equality of conditions</em> is the master fact of modern history - a providential force reshaping every part of life, which we can neither stop nor reverse, but only learn to guide.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Tocqueville saw the “equality of conditions” as the master fact of modern history. Explain in your own words what he meant, why he thought it was irresistible, and why he insisted the task was to guide democracy rather than fight it.

Leads to Montesquieu.

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