Before being declared heretical in 1713, Jansenism was a Catholic movement focused on such central issues as original sin and predestination. In this engaging book, David Selby explores how the Jansenist tradition shaped Alexis de Tocqueville’s life and works and argues that once that connection is understood, we can apply Tocqueville’s political thought in new and surprising ways. Moving from the historical sociology of Jansenism in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France to contemporary debates over the human right to education, the role of religion in democracy, and the nature of political freedom, Selby brings Tocqueville out of the past and makes him relevant to the present, revealing that there is still much to learn from this great theorist of democracy.
- Cover
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Qui êtes-vous Monsieur de Tocqueville?
- The Big Payoffs
- On Method: What Happens after the Revolution?
- A Final Word
- 1. Jansenism and Republicanism in Old Regime France
- A Précis of the History of Jansenism
- An Ideal-Type of Jansenism
- The Jansenist Ethic and the Spirit of Resistance: Malesherbes’ Resistance to Maupeou’s Reforms
- Conclusion: Jansenism and Republicanism in Old Regime France
- 2. Tocqueville, Jansenism, and French Political Culture, 1789-1859
- Two Jansenist Categories: The Notes to Democracy in America
- A Brief History of the Tocqueville Family and the Cultural Influences Present in Family Life
- The Family Library and the Education of an Aristocrat
- The Study of Law and Two Friends from Versailles
- Jansenist Themes in Tocqueville’s Life and Letters
- Conclusion: Jansenism in the Life and Works of Alexis de Tocqueville
- 3. Providence
- Jansenism and Providence: Secular History, Religious Knowledge, and the Imperative to Struggle for the Good in the Space Provided by Providence
- The Dual Influence of Bossuet in the Nineteenth Century
- Tocqueville’s Apology for Democracy: Contra Maistre on the Nature of the French Revolution
- Tocqueville’s Use of the Theory of Orders: Contra Bossuet
- Conclusion: A New Political Science for a Democratic Age
- 4. Sovereignty
- Pascal’s ‘Conversation’ in the Nineteenth Century
- The First Series of Debates: The Villèle Ministry and the Events of 1822
- Jansenist and Doctrinaire Responses: Grégoire and Villemain
- Louis-Phillipe d’Orléans: Liberal Monarch, or Prince of the French Republic?
- The Liberal Monarch and his Ministers: The Doctrinaires
- Tocqueville’s Trip to America and the Sovereignty of the People
- Conclusion: The Modern Republicanism of Alexis de Tocqueville
- 5. Power and Virtue
- The Liberal Challenge: Constant on the Liberties of the Ancients and the Moderns
- Tocqueville’s First Rejoinder: Individualism and Interest Properly Understood
- The Jansenist Toolbox: Pascal, Nicole, d’Aguesseau
- From Subject to Citizen: The Moral Relations of the Republic
- Conclusion: The Necessity of the Political in a Democratic Age
- 6. Religion (I)
- Setting up the Problem: Stepan and Tocqueville as Third-Way Democrats
- The Freedom of Education and the Failure of Democratic Bargaining, 1843-1844
- Two Models of Education: Moral and Civic
- Tocqueville’s Compromise
- Conclusion: The Path not Taken, and Reconstructing the Right to the Freedom of Education
- 7. Religion (II)
- Tocqueville’s Antinomies and the Democratic Social State
- The Political Utility of Religion
- The Spill-Over Effect
- The Separation Effect
- The Restraint Effect
- The Mechanism of Practice: A Brief Comparison of Religion in the works of Alexis de Tocqueville and Robert Bellah
- The Ideal-Type in History: From America to France
- Back to America: The Double Foundation and the American Democratic Revolution
- Conclusion
- Tocqueville’s Modern Republicanism
- Power, Non-Domination, and Realist Republicanism
- Practical Experience, Political Activity, and Civic Virtue
- Institutionalizing the Republic and the Prospects for Freedom in a Democratic Age
- Bibliography
- Index
- List of Tables
- Table 1 The Affinity of Religious Jansenism and the Ideology of Constitutional Monarchy
- Table 2 The Affinity of Traditional Jansenism and Democratic Republicanism
- Table 3 The Contours of Liberalism and Republicanism
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