Title: The spirit of religion and the spirit of liberty : the Tocqueville thesis revisited /
Authors: Zuckert, Michael P., 1942-
Year: 2017
Subjects: Tocqueville, Alexis de,; Tocqueville, Alexis de,; De la démocratie en Amérique (Tocqueville, Alexis de); Religion and politics United States; Religion and politics; United States
Abstract: Tocqueville's thesis on the relation between religion and liberty could hardly be timelier. From events in the Middle East and the spread of Islamist violence in the name of religion to the mandated coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the interaction between religion and politics has once again become central to political life. Tocqueville, facing the coming of a new social and political order within the traditional society that was France, faced this relation between politics and religion with freshness and relevance. He was particularly interested in reporting to his French compatriots on how the Americans had successfully resolved what, to many Frenchmen, looked to be an insuperable conflict. His surprising thesis was that the right kind of arrangement a certain kind of separation of church and state that was not also a complete separation of religion and politics could be seen in nineteenth century America to be beneficial to both liberty and religion. This volume investigates whether Tocqueville's depiction was valid for the America he investigated in the 1830s and whether it remains valid today.
Contents: Introduction : the Tocqueville thesis / Michael Zuckert -- Tocqueville's American thesis and the new science of politics / Aristide Tessitore -- Tocqueville, religion, and "Democracy in America" : some essential questions / James T. Schleifer -- Tocqueville's "America," Beaumont's "slavery," and the United States in 1831-22 / Mark A. Noll -- Tocqueville, Pascal, and the transcendent horizon / Alexander Jech -- On individualism, authority, and democracy as a new form of religion : a few Tocquevillian reflections / Aurelian Craiutu, Matthew N. Holbreich -- Tocqueville's pendulum : thoughts on religion, liberty, and reason in democratic times / Eduardo Nolla -- Checks and balances for democratic souls : Alexis de Tocqueville on religion in democratic societies / Alan S. Kahan -- Tocqueville on religion and liberty / Harvey C. Mansfield -- Religion, civic education, and conformity / Dana Villa -- The saving minimum? : Tocqueville on the role of religion in America, then and now / Catherine Zuckert.