S0052 · tocqueville_democracy_in_america · registry identity
Democracy in America
Bears on
Canonical propositions this source was matched as evidence for.
How Hirsch uses it
Every occurrence, grouped by book and chapter, with the claim it was linked to support and (where the extraction regenerated one) the underlying warrant.
1987 · Cultural Literacy
Alexis de Tocqueville's 1835 work is cited as a 'brilliant sketch' that nevertheless failed to fully define the character of American national culture, supporting the idea that the culture is non-monolithic.
direct No convincing attempt to fully define the character of American national culture has ever appeared.
Warrant (implicit): The failure of the most acclaimed observers to exhaustively categorize a culture proves that the culture is inherently pluralistic and resistant to total definition.
could fail ifThe failure to 'fully define' American culture may stem from the inherent limitations of social science methodology or the bias of the observer (like Tocqueville) rather than from the non-monolithic nature of the culture itself.
1996 · The Schools We Need
Tocqueville's observations on the longstanding strength of independent and skeptical elements in American culture.
related Independent-mindedness was successfully sustained in American schools in the nineteenth century when the curriculum focused on subject matter.
Tocqueville's observation of the American faith in the diffusion of knowledge for the perfectibility of man.
direct The Enlightenment tradition in America views the diffusion of knowledge as essential for democratic social and political efficacy.
Warrant (implicit): The survival of democratic institutions depends on a shared cultural commitment to the systematic spread of scholarship and objective information.
could fail ifTocqueville might have been observing a superficial civic piety rather than a deeply held commitment that translates into effective educational policy.
2010 · The Making of Americans
Alexis de Tocqueville's observations of American civic loyalty and the role of education in 'Democracy in America'.
direct By the 1830s, American education had successfully made Americans more loyal to the common good than their European counterparts.
Warrant (implicit): A foreign observer’s qualitative assessment of a nation's civic spirit is a reliable indicator of the efficacy of that nation's educational system.
could fail ifTocqueville’s observations may reflect a selection bias, as he primarily interacted with a specific literate class of Americans rather than a representative cross-section.
2020 · How to Educate a Citizen
Alexis de Tocqueville's observations in 'Democracy in America' (1835) regarding the effectiveness of American education in fostering civic duty.
direct The maintenance of a democratic republic depends on an education that combines mental enlightenment with the teaching of civic duty.
Warrant (explicit): The stability of a political system is contingent upon an education system that explicitly links intellectual development with moral obligations to the state.
could fail ifA republic may be sustained more by economic prosperity or the rule of law than by the specific civic content taught in its elementary schools.
Endnote numbers seen
Raw book:chapter:endnote references collected during endnote backfill.
swn:4:56
Raw source_reference strings seen
As they appeared before normalization/consolidation into this source identity.
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1831)Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835)TocquevilleTocqueville, Democracy in America