Tocqueville and Mill: Democracy and Liberalism, Revolution and Empire

This course examines in depth the thought of two of the most influential figures in the history of political thought, John Stuart Mill and Alexis de Tocqueville. Special attention is paid to the following themes: (1) the nature and institutions of liberalism; (2) the nature and institutions of democracy, and the way in which these might come into conflict with (1); (3) revolution, both the great French upheavals which marked Tocqueville's thought; (4) empire, both the defenses of it from each of these thinkers.