Voting Station

Alexis de Tocqueville

Please vote to return to collections.

Author

The Resume

    (July 29, 1805-April 16, 1859)
    Born in Paris, France
    Parliamentary deputy from Manche department (1830-51)
    Sent by the French government to study the US prison system (1831-32)
    Wrote 'Democracy in America' (2 volumes, 1835-40) and 'The Old Regime and the Revolution' (1856)

Why he might be annoying:

    During the uprisings of 1848, he supported declaring a state of siege, mass arrests of demonstrators and restricting freedom of the press.
    He said that blacks and Native Americans lacked the qualities, intellectual and otherwise, to live in a democracy.
    He openly advocated racial segregation between Europeans and Arabs in Algeria.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was one of several deputies who tried to have Napoleon III tried for treason for staging a coup to extend his presidency beyond the constitutional limit (1851).
    He correctly predicted that the dispute over slavery would tear the US apart and that America and Russia would emerge as rival superpowers.
    'Democracy in America' is an enduring classic of political and social science, still widely assigned to college students majoring in political theory.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 72.73% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 21 Votes: 38.10% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 31 Votes: 45.16% Annoying