Why Democracy Needs Glory-Seekers: A Tocquevillian Analysis

Join the SUNY-Geneseo community for a Constitution Day Lecture from Dana Stauffer on Wednesday, September 17 from 3:30-5 p.m. ET. The lecture, “Why Democracy Needs Glory-Seekers: A Tocquevillian Analysis,” is open to the public. The lecture will take place at Doty Tower Room (300 Doty Hall, Park Street, Geneseo, NY 14454).

Alexis de Tocqueville observed that the rise of modern democracy has ramifications far beyond the political realm. It changes the way people think about their capacities and shapes their aspirations. Tocqueville argues that democracy allows a certain degree of ambition to become widespread, but it also discourages grand striving. In this talk, I explore Tocqueville’s analysis of the effects of democracy on ambition and why, in his view, we need to nurture the desires for power and glory in the modern era.

Dana Jalbert Stauffer is Associate Professor of Instruction and Research Fellow in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include classical political thought, Tocqueville, and Shakespeare. She is currently at work on a book manuscript entitled “A World Altogether New: Tocqueville on the Modern Moral Situation.”