Alexis de Tocqueville

(1805-1859)
He was born in Verneuil (now Verneuil-sur-Seine) July 29, 1805. He received a law degree, and they reach thirty years, was due to the influence of his father, peer of France, an assistant judge. Been influenced by F. Guizot, studied the history of England, which he regarded as a model of political development. Tired of judicial duties, and full of doubts in the prospects of his career after the July Revolution of 1830, has leave to study the reform of the penal system and methods of criminal punishment in the U.S.. His book Democracy (De la dmocratie, 4 vol., 1835-1840; the English translation of Democracy in America), the main result of the stay in the U.S., was the first in-depth analysis of American political life. American democracy, according to Tocqueville, is a system of government, aimed at curbing absolutism and centralization (federalism, independence of regions, the freedom of organizations and associations). Nevertheless, he believed that further convergence among the citizens as a result of democracy can ultimately lead to the resistance of tyranny will be weakened. In the last part of the work, which was published already in 1840 and largely based on French material, discussed the general problem of the influence of gender on the social system. According to Tocqueville, democratic governance, imposing the equality of citizens in the system, gradually leads to the destruction of liberties, strengthen the role of the state, political indifference and the desire of citizens to the custody. After the first part of Tocqueville immediately gained recognition as an outstanding social thinker, in 1838 he was admitted to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, . in 1841 - the French Academy, . in 1839 became a member of the Chamber of Deputies, . came to the committee on the Constitution of the Second Republic, . became vice-president of the Legislative Assembly in 1849 and for several months served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, . until he was removed from him by Louis Napoleon Bonaparte in October 1849,
. Tocqueville extremely hostile attitude to the revolutionary workers and socialist movement, in particular, considered incompatible social democracy and liberal democracy. Coup d'etat on Dec. 2, 1851 led to the imprisonment and dismissal from their posts Tocqueville, after he refused to swear allegiance to the new government. Returning to scientific pursuits, he published in 1856 the first volume of his famous work The old order and the Revolution (L'Ancien rgime et la rvolution), which was immediately recognized and translated into English. In this now-classic work of the French Revolution served as a logical outcome of absolutism, it also provides an idea of the possible establishment of a despotic regime in France as a result of the centralization of power. Tocqueville's study gave new impetus to the further study of the French Revolution and had, together with the work of democracy, a profound influence on the development of liberalism and sociological thought, especially after the 1930. Fame and received posthumously published book of memoirs (Souvenirs, 1893). Tocqueville died in Cannes, April 16, 1859.