How can today鈥檚 liberal democracies withstand the illiberal wave sweeping the globe? What can revive our waning faith in constitutional democracy? Tocqueville鈥檚 Dilemmas, and Ours argues that Alexis de Tocqueville, one of democracy鈥檚 greatest champions and most incisive critics, can guide us forward.
Drawing on Tocqueville鈥檚 major works and lesser-known policy writings, Ewa Atanassow shines a bright light on the foundations of liberal democracy. She argues that its prospects depend on how we tackle three dilemmas that were as urgent in Tocqueville鈥檚 day as they are in ours: how to institutionalize popular sovereignty, how to define nationhood, and how to grasp the possibility and limits of global governance. These are pivotal but often neglected dimensions of Tocqueville鈥檚 work, and this fresh look at his writings provides a powerful framework for addressing the tensions between liberalism and democracy in the twenty-first century.
Recovering a richer liberalism capable of weathering today鈥檚 political storms, Tocqueville鈥檚 Dilemmas, and Ours explains how we can reclaim nationalism as a liberal force and reimagine sovereignty in a global age鈥攁nd do so with one of democracy鈥檚 most discerning thinkers as our guide.
Ewa Atanassow is Professor of Politics at Bard College Berlin. Her books include (with Thomas Bartscherer and David A. Bateman) When the People Rule: Popular Sovereignty in Theory and Practice, (with Alan S. Kahan) Liberal Moments: Reading Liberal Texts, and (with Richard Boyd) Tocqueville and the Frontiers of Democracy.
鈥淎tanassow provides an excellent account of Tocqueville鈥檚 thought and of nineteenth-century views on democracy more broadly. This exhaustively researched book is an important contribution to the literature on Tocqueville.鈥濃�擜rthur Goldhammer, Harvard University
鈥淭his beautifully realized book resonates with contemporary purpose. Focusing on protean problems for liberal democracy, Atanassow deploys her rigorous and creative craft to discern how Tocqueville鈥檚 provocative insights can shape a much-needed political imagination.鈥濃�擨ra Katznelson, Columbia University
鈥�Tocqueville鈥檚 Dilemmas, and Ours is political philosophy at its best鈥攐riginal, thoughtful, nuanced, relevant, and also elegantly written. It is a work that makes us realize that today鈥檚 problems of democracy are also yesterday鈥檚 problems of democracy, and tomorrow鈥檚, too.鈥濃�擨van Krastev, author of After Europe
鈥淚n this novel and important book, Atanassow draws lessons from Tocqueville to help us understand the present crisis of liberalism. She gives us, with the aid of Tocqueville, a theoretical framework for thinking about the challenges that we face.鈥濃�擧elena Rosenblatt, author of The Lost History of Liberalism: From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-First Century
鈥淎tanassow鈥檚 nuanced readings point us toward the sad paradoxes of European colonialism, helping us think about how to best navigate its aftermath. By bringing out what Tocqueville has to say to globalism, she makes a case for the continued relevance of Tocqueville in a world that looks on the surface very different from the world of the 1830s.鈥濃�擩enna Silber Storey, coauthor of Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment
