Tocqueville’s Machiavellianism

Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthop, “Tocqueville's Machiavellianism,” Perspectives on Political Science 43, no. 2 (Apr.–June 2014): 87–92.  

Abstract: Tocqueville’s sole reference to Machiavelli in Democracy in America is a nicely located misquotation. This article makes much of it, more than one would likely think possible. Tocqueville’s mission was to replace Machiavelli in his role of captain-philosopher and to save the aristocratic element in democracy that Machiavelli believed should be dispensed with.

 

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