@article{11499,
  author = {Keith E. Whittington},
  title = {Revisiting Tocqueville{\textquoteright}s America: Society, Politics and Association in the Nineteenth Century},
  abstract = { <p>The conception of social capital has revitalized the study of civil society. Alexis de Tocqueville{\textquoteright}s examination of 19th-century America is a major source of inspiration for much of this work. Tocqueville{\textquoteright}s analysis has been used to help support the idea that a strong civil society is crucial to democratic success. A reconsideration of Tocqueville{\textquoteright}s analysis, and, more important, of his American case, however, suggests that an active civil society is not an unalloyed good for democratic politics. A strong society can be not only a support but also a threat to democracy and liberal democratic ideals. One{\textquoteright}s evaluation of the health of democratic politics must depend on a study of the effects of political institutions and constitutional structures, as well as of civil society.</p> },
  year = {1998},
  journal = {American Behavioral Scientist},
  volume = {42},
  pages = {21-32},
  url = {http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0002764298042001003},
  language = {eng},
}