TOCQUEVILLE, Alexis de. Democracy in America. De Tocqueville's classic study of American institutions, the first serious study of the effects of democracy. Contains a large folding engraved map, hand-colored in outline. Democracy in America was written and published separately in two distinct parts in different years (the first part in 1835 and the second part in 1840, first in French and then translated into English). Tocqueville's work originated in a trip commissioned by the French government to study the American penal system in 1831-32. "In 1835, the first volume appeared, and throughout the intellectual circles of western Europe both democracy and America took on a new aspect and a new significance in political speculation." "One of the most important texts in political literature.' "The first systematic and empirical study of the effects of political power on modern society." PREVIOUS NEXT