The importance of religious beliefs in maintaining liberal democracy. Tocqueville's concept of religion role in democracy

• Author: Florian Delia-Stefania
• Position: Law and Economics Faculty, Social Sciences Department, Agora University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania
• Pages: 38-43

AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, www.juridicalj ournal.univagora.ro

ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677

No. 2 (2012), pp. 38-43

38

THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN MAINTAINING

LIBERAL DEMOCRACY.

TOCQUEVILLE’S CONCEPT OF RELIGION ROLE IN DEMOCRACY

D. . Florian

Delia-tefania Florian

Law and Economics Faculty, Social Sciences Department

Agora University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania

*Correspondence: Delia-tefania Florian, Agora University of Oradea,

8 Piaa Tineretului St., Oradea, Romania

E-mail: deliaflorian@univagora.ro / deliaflorian@gmail.com

Abstract

In this article I am trying to resume and interpret the relationship between religion

and democracy as it was presented by Tocqueville in “Democracy in America”. The topic is

very actual and it worth our consideration giving the fact that we live in times when moral,

faith and religion principles aren’t present (as it should be) in Romanian democracy.

Key words: religion, democracy, state, American democracy, Alexis de Tocqueville

Introduction

Alexis de Tocqueville is the theoretician of the democracy as form of government. This

is why John Stuart Mill affirms that “Democracy in America”

1

is “the first philosophical

work ever written regarding the democracy as it exists in the modern world”.

In “Democracy in America”, published in 1835, Tocqueville wrote of the New World

and its burgeoning democratic order. Observing from the perspective of a detached social

scientist, Tocqueville wrote of his travels through America in the early 19th Century when the

market revolution, Western expansion, and Jacksonian democracy were radically

transforming the fabric of American life. He saw democracy as an equation that balanced

liberty and equality, concern for the individual as well as the community.

In a voyage to a masterpiece in political sciences

When Tocqueville first thought of writing a book about America and why he had

chosen America has never been entirely clear. Neither the facts known, nor the existing

documents can help us to answer these questions. The facts are clear but they highlight only

the shallow side of this journey: the ambition of two young scientists to research the

penitentiary system in America.

In 1831, two young Frenchmen - Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont -

received permission to travel to the U.S. for the purpose of studying the U.S. prison system.

Both were at odds with the new government of Louis Philippe, and they were looking for an

excuse to leave France.

Even before leaving France the two friends had determined to study more than

criminal codes and penitentiary schemes. In a letter wrote to Eugène Stoffels (Paris, February

21

st

1831) Tocqueville confessed: “We are leaving with the intention of examining in detail

and as scientifically as possible all the mechanisms of this vast American society about which

1

A. de Tocqueville, Despre democraie în America, “Humanitas” Publis hing House, Bucharest, 2005.