Community Call: Democratic Theory Reading Group (Meeting #1 - Tocqueville)

​Let's read some Tocqueville and discuss its implications on our work :) This will be the first meeting of Metagov's new Democratic Theory Reading Group.

​We will be starting with readings from Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Book PDF available in #community channel in Metagov Slack.

​Call Agenda:

• ​(~10 min) We'll start with introductions from Metagov Research Director Seth Frey and Political Theory Fellow Joseph Gubbels with each of them speaking to who they are, why democratic theory (& Tocqueville specifically) matters, and what Tocqueville taught them or how he has inspired them. Spoiler: according to Seth, Tocqueville thinks Americans are "complete freaks," they "love meetings," and they’re "doing amazing things because of it" 😆

• ​(~30-40 min) Then, we open up a discussion based on everyone's readings! Perhaps giving everyone a chance to speak to some key, persuasive points they think he makes and some ideas he has that might be relevant to builders of governance technology around the world today.

​**Please come prepared with favorite passages, interesting arguments (and your agreements/disagreements with them), open questions you have inspired by the text, or anything else you’d like to discuss with the group.

​Readings

​Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville (1835-1840). The following core sections have been curated by Joseph Gubbels (146 pages). Please read as much as you can so we can have a vibrant discussion!

• ​Volume 1

  • ​Intro (pp. 3-17)

  • ​Part 1

    • ​Ch 2-4 (pp. 31-65)

  • ​Part 2

    • ​Ch 1 (p. 197)

    • ​Ch 5 (only pp. 253-259)

    • ​Ch 7 (pp. 283-300)

• ​Volume 2

  • ​Preface (pp. 479-480)

  • ​Part 2

    • ​Ch 1-5 (pp. 581-599)

    • ​Ch 8 (pp. 610-613)

    • ​Ch 11 (pp. 620-622)

    • ​Ch 13-14 (pp. 625-632)

    • ​Ch 20 (pp. 649-652)

  • ​Part 4

    • ​Ch 1-3 (pp. 787-796)

    • ​Ch 6 (pp. 816-821) (important)

    • ​Ch 7-8 (pp. 822-834)

​Extra stuff for people who want to read more:

• ​Historical & institutional stuff (135 pages)

  • ​Vol 1, Part I, Ch 6 (pp. 111-119)

  • ​Vol 1, Part II, Ch 2 (pp. 198-214)

  • ​Vol 1, Part II, Ch 5 (pp. 224-263)

  • ​Vol 1, Part II, Ch 8 (pp. 301-318)

  • ​Vol 1, Part II, Ch 9 (pp. 319-364)

  • ​Vol 2, Part III, Ch 1 (pp. 655-659)

• ​On Gender (14 pages)

  • ​Vol 2, Part III, Ch 8-9, 12 (pp. 685-694, pp. 705-708)

• ​On race (112 pages)

  • ​Vol 1, Part II, Ch 10 (pp. 365-476)

​People who really want to go crazy can read what Joseph's class is reading (541 pages): Introduction, Vol 1, Part I: Ch 1-6; Part II: Ch 1-2, 4, 5-10; Vol 2: Preface, Part I: Ch 1-5; Part II: Ch 1-6, 8, 11, 13-15, 20; Part III: Ch 1, 8-9, 12, 17, 21, 22; Part IV: Ch 1-8

​Other helpful links found online:
• Overview: https://www.thoughtco.com/democracy-in-america-3026749
• Study guide: https://resources.bac.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Tocqueville-Study-Guide.pdf
• Reading guide: https://louisville.edu/mcconnellcenter/multimedia/podcasts/TocquevilleReadingGuide.pdf