American democracy

About This Book

More than a hundred fifty years ago Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America suggested that the development of America's fledgling democratic institutions might influence the development of democracy in Europe as well. Events proved de Tocqueville right. Now, in American Democracy: Aspects of Practical Liberalism, German-born political philosopher Gottfried Dietze offers a new European look at American politics that may once again - for good or ill - be a forecast of Europe's future as well. With a mixture of wonder and alarm, Dietze examines the tendency toward what he calls "pure liberalism, or the unrestricted quest for ever more freedom" on the part of individuals as well as elected officials. In the three sections - American society, American habits, and American constitutionalism - he shows that America's political focus has turned to new variations of liberalism which demonstrate the enormous breadth of free government. In conclusion Dietze raises the question of whether, in its growing toleration of ever greater liberty, American democracy might not contain the seeds of its own decline.