The ''Alexis de Tocqueville Tour'' was a series of programs produced by

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

in 1997 and 1998 that followed the path taken by

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (; 29 July 180516 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville (), was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his works ...

and Gustave de Beaumont through the United States during their 1831–32 visit. It explored many of the themes that Tocqueville discussed in ''

Democracy in America (; published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840) is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville. Its title literally translates to ''On Democracy in America'', but official English translations are usually simply entitl ...

'', the two-volume work that he wrote based on his American travels. A C-SPAN School Bus traveled to each of the stops made by Tocqueville and Beaumont. Many of the Tocqueville programs were segments of C-SPAN's morning news and call-in show, ''

Washington Journal ''Washington Journal'' is an American television series on the C-SPAN television network in the format of a political call-in and interview program. The program features elected officials, government administrators and journalists as guests, an ...

'', and they were timed to coincide with the anniversaries of Tocqueville and Beaumont's visits to those places. Typically, they were about 30 minutes long, and incorporated calls, e-mails, and faxes from viewers. Professor John Splaine of the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

consulted on the series, and six other historians and academics served as advisors: Peter Lawler of Berry College; Daniel Mahoney of Assumption College;

Harvey Mansfield Harvey Claflin Mansfield Jr. (born March 21, 1932) is an American political philosophy, political philosopher. He is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1962. He has held Guggenheim F ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

; Ken Masugi of the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

; Jim Schleifer of the

College of New Rochelle The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a private Catholic college with its main campus in New Rochelle, New York, but also in Australia, England, and Germany. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the Ursuline ...

; and Delba Winthrop of

Background

C-SPAN CEO

Brian Lamb Brian Patrick Lamb (; born October 9, 1941) is an American journalist. He is the founder, executive chairman, and the now-retired CEO of C-SPAN, an American cable network that provides coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Sen ...

described the basis for the Tocqueville project as follows:

"Out of that experience /nowiki>the_1994_reenactments_of_the_Lincoln-Douglas_Debates.html" ;"title="1994 reenactments of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates">/nowiki>the 1994 reenactments of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates">1994 reenactments of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates">/nowiki>the 1994 reenactments of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates/nowiki> and ''Booknotes'', this small town Midwesterner [referring to himself] came again to the constant reference to Alexis de Tocqueville. Time and time again, left and right, Democrat and Republican, all the politicians would quote Alexis de Tocqueville—often incorrectly. It was amazing to me when I found out. There's a famous quote attributed to Tocqueville: "America is great because America is good. If America ever stops being good, it will stop being great." He just never said it. Presidents, President Clinton, former Speaker Gingrich, and lots of other politicians have constantly repeated that quote, and it's not true. So that was one of the small offshoots that we learned by going around the United States, stopping in 55 communities. We started, by the way, at his chateau in Normandy, France, where we did a four-hour live program on Saturday morning in May of 1995." The interview between Michael H. Ebner, A.B. Dick Professor of History at
Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts i ...
and Brian Lamb, C-SPAN founder and CEO, at his offices in Washington DC.

Tour programs

Note: Prof. John Splaine of the

appeared as a commentator in numerous Tocqueville programs. Various local historians, journalists, and citizens also appeared as interviewees.

References

External links

Official site
for "Retracing the steps of Alexis de Tocqueville's 1831 journey"
''Booknotes'' interview with Alan Ryan
on the Introduction to Alexis de Tocqueville's ''Democracy in America'', February 26, 1995.
''Booknotes'' interview with Harvey Mansfield
on the University of Chicago Press edition of ''Democracy in America'', December 17, 2000
Phone interviews with winners of C-SPAN's Tocqueville contest
February 6, 1998
In-studio interviews with winners of C-SPAN's Tocqueville contest
February 23, 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexis de Tocqueville Tour: Exploring Democracy in America C-SPAN original programming 1997 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings American television talk shows