James Madison and Alexis de Tocqueville:
What can the classics on American Democracy teach us about democracy in the 21st century?
I would like to offer a seminar which would read selections from the Federalist Papers and Democracy
in America in order to explore: 1) The relationship between Madisonian thought and the analysis of
Tocqueville on American democracy and 2) The continued relevance of these great 18th and early 19th
century thinkers for the state of democracy in 21st century America.
The course would begin with reading about 20 of the 85 Federalist Papers, mostly ones written by
Madison, but with a few from Alexander Hamilton. The first goal is to understand Madison’s conception
of democracy as well as his overarching conception of the best structures for our national government.
Secondly comes the project of thinking about Madison as a constitution-designer who was both very
much concerned with the political problems of the thirteen newly independent states in the 1780s and
also such a sophisticated student of democratic politics that much of his political analysis resonates with
us today. Perhaps, of course, his thought still resonates with us because we have been “taught” by the
lessons and institutions he bequeathed to us. In 2015 we need to ask how much Madison’s thought can
help us as we confront modern problems such as political polarization, gridlock, the proper role or
powers for the national government, and the continuing quest for ways to democratize the conduct of
the United States as a super power. How much is Madison an important historical figure who solved the
great political problems of 1787? How much can his thought about democratic politics and the
perennial problems of governing guide us today?
We will begin our study of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America with a serious consideration of his
fundamental analytical structure, the comparison between the aristocratic society of France which he
knows so well and this new democratic society which he explored and studied in the United States in
1830. The case for the value of his analysis has to lie in the keen insights which come from this contrast
which Tocqueville develops throughout his two volumes. I understand Tocqueville as engaged in the
political project of constructing a liberal democratic politics in the emerging democratic society of early
19th century France. This tension between the egalitarian impulses of democratic society and the desire
for individual liberty which stands as the fundamental principle of liberal democratic politics animates
the entire book. We will explore both Tocqueville’s fears of where democracy could lead as well as the
many virtues he found in American democracy.
I especially look forward to the conclusion of the seminar where I want the seminar to explore the
parallels and distinctions between Madison and Tocqueville. Are they both elitist democrats? Are they
both liberal democrats? How different are their conceptions of democracy? Madison suggests that
establishing democratic government is an incredibly difficult task, with his constitution the best hope for
achieving the goal. On the other hand, doesn’t Tocqueville seem to think that while it would be very
difficult to establish democratic government in early 19th century France, it was easy for those lucky
Americans; the New England colonists had already done half the work for Madison. These are very
different works; the Federalist Papers were written to persuade the American voters of 1787 to ratify
the new constitution; Democracy in America was written to persuade French citizens in the 1830s and
1840s to utilize the American experience as a guide for their efforts to construct a better democracy for
France. Do they each have lessons to teach us today?
Monday: Madison’s Theory of Democracy
Federalist Papers 1, 10, 37, and 47-51
Tuesday: The Federalist Papers on Congress and the Presidency
Federalist Papers 52-53, 55, 62-3, and 70-1
Wednesday: The Federalist Papers on Governmental Power in a Democracy
Federalist Papers 14, 23, 38-9, 42, 45-6, and 85
Thursday: Tocqueville on Democracy and Aristocracy, the United States and France
Democracy in America, Author’s Introduction and chapters 2-4 from Volume I, Part 1
Friday: Tocqueville on Democratic Government and Democratic Society
Democracy in America, Volume I, Part 2, Chapters 1 and 4-9
Saturday: Madison and Tocqueville on Democracy Then and Now
Democracy in America, Volume II, Part One, Chaps. 1-2
Part Two, Chaps. 1-8
James Madison and Alexis de Tocqueville:
What can the classics on American Democracy teach us about democracy in the 21st century?
Monday: Madison’s Theory of Democracy
Federalist Papers 1, 10, 37, and 47-51
Tuesday: The Federalist Papers on Congress and the Presidency
Federalist Papers 52-53, 62-3, and 70-1
Wednesday: The Federalist Papers on Governmental Power in a Democracy
Federalist Papers 14, 23, 38-9, 42, 45-6, and 85
Thursday: Tocqueville on Democracy and Aristocracy, the United States and France
Democracy in America, Author’s Introduction and chapters 2-4 from Volume I, Part 1
Friday: Tocqueville on Democratic Government and Democratic Society
Democracy in America, Volume I, Part 2, Chapters 1 and 4-9
Saturday: Madison and Tocqueville on Democracy Then and Now
Democracy in America, selections from Volume II
James Madison and Alexis de Tocqueville:
What can the classics on American Democracy teach us about democracy in the 21st century?
Reading these books can be difficult; they weren’t written for us. In fact, they were each written for
specific political purposes in political environments far from our’s. The more one knows about those
political environments and about the respective audiences for these writings the easier it is to
understand them. Learning to think about the political intent of authors while one reads a book for the
purpose of understanding a different political context is a valuable educational challenge.
The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 long newspaper columns designed to win support for ratifying
the new Constitution. The theory of democracy and understanding of governmental institutions which
underlie the Constitution are not neatly or explicitly presented; the core ideas appear mostly in the
explanations and defenses of specific features of the Constitution. Searching out and clarifying these
core ideas takes work. Scholars consistently judge Federalist Papers 10 and 51 as the most important,
and most brilliant; they were written and published separately, but they need to be read as a pair.
Learning how to read such a “text” is a valuable educational experience.
Volume I of Democracy in America is a much more coherent or consistent book which presents its analysis of
American democracy in a more conventional or straight-forward way. However, Tocqueville’s definition of
democracy as a social phenomenon, meaning “equality of condition,” rather than as a political system startles and
confuses modern Americans; his implicit and explicit comparisons to aristocratic France also pervade the book and
complicate its reading. Volume II represents a very different kind of writing, essentially consisting of eighty short
essays which together constitute an amazingly insightful, and quite controversial, picture of America. How do we
approach thinking about his interpretation of America in 1830 as relevant to American democracy in 2015? Reading
Tocqueville is also a demanding task.
I approach teaching these books with some different kinds of goals in mind. My primary goal is to
guide students to see and understand the overarching theory developed by each of those thinkers;
hopefully, they can proceed to ask how Madison or Tocqueville might think about various modern
political problems or conditions. My highest goal for such a seminar would be to enable the students to
discover that theory on their own or in cooperation with their peers. I also love to point students to
what I consider the many, many little gems of analysis found in these works; and again my highest hope
is for them to discover what they see as gems. The seminar seeks to help the students become more
thoughtful readers of demanding books, and it also seeks to teach them the value of serious cooperative
engagement in political deliberation. A seminar on Madison and Tocqueville also seeks to make its
participants into better democratic citizens.
Each session of the seminar will begin with a “long half” which will concentrate on the reading for the
day; the first goal is to understand the analysis of the author. After a break a “short half” will ask the
seminar to explore the modern relevance of the reading. I will e-mail questions to the class in
preparation for the “long half” analysis; I may ask specific students to respond to my questions during
the seminar. I expect short essays written by the seminar participants to play a larger role in guiding the
discussions for the “short halves.” I expect to provide handouts of key quotes from the readings to help
focus the discussions.
John Elliott
Harry M. Clor Professor of Political Science