Episode Details

In this Conversation, Harvey Mansfield considers the connection between the thought of Alexis de Tocqueville and Niccolo Machiavelli. In Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," there is just one reference to Machiavelli. Yet, according to Mansfield’s illuminating interpretation, Tocqueville draws significantly on Machiavelli’s thought—and ambition. Even while opposing the effects of Machiavelli's teaching, Tocqueville learns from Machiavelli in his effort to develop and advance a “new political science” for democratic citizens that preserves honor and political liberty. This Conversation reflects on the essay “Tocqueville’s Machiavellianism” by Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop.