Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) was a French political thinker, historian, and writer whose work shaped modern discussions of democracy and society. Born in France, he traveled to the United States in the early 1830s and drew on his observations to write *Democracy in America*, a major study of American political life and the social conditions supporting it. He later examined the roots and consequences of upheaval in *The Old Regime and the Revolution*, analyzing continuities between pre-revolutionary France and the post-1789 order. Tocqueville also served in French public life, bringing practical experience to his political analysis.