Claiming Tocqueville : Views from the American Left

Alexis de Tocqueville has been claimed by historians and political theorists on both the Left and the Right. This article examines three authors from the Left –Reinhardt, Wolin and Jacoby– who challenge the idea of Tocqueville’s obsolescence. However, Reinhardt and Wolin don’t succeed in their endeavors because they fail to capture the full democratic potential of Tocqueville’s theoretical proposal. Jacoby, on the other hand, finds in Tocqueville important resources to defend democracy against modern threats, such as populism. He makes a coherent call to action, as he recognizes that there are political dangers in the loss of individual autonomy.