Tocqueville, la tensión entre libertad y democracia | Enrique Aguilar

Political scientist Enrique Aguilar shares the history and key themes of Alexis de Tocqueville's most famous book, Democracy in America. Aguilar mentions some details about Tocqueville's life that helped him begin his quest to understand the successful functioning of the United States' democratic system compared to the French system. He also describes the focus of each volume of the book, which addresses topics such as the achievements of the U.S. in implementing its democratic system and the potential consequences if the system fails. Dr. Aguilar explains two very important points to consider before reading the book, such as Tocqueville's definition of the word democracy, referring to a type of society that opposes aristocracy and is defined by human equality, evolving into a dynamic society. "For Tocqueville, democratic society is a society dominated by that subjective feeling of equality, that feeling of human similarity or resemblance." Furthermore, he clarifies that the analysis Tocqueville presents in his book concerns the institutions, customs, and political culture in which a white population prevailed. Therefore, at the end of the speech, he mentions the terrible consequences that the United States could suffer due to discrimination and racism. Following this, he mentions some of the potential dangers of a democratic society, highlighting the importance of freedom. Among these threats are: *Giving more importance to equality than to freedom. *Democratic despotism, such as the monopolization of executive power. *The tyranny and omnipotence of the majority, where minorities are not considered. *Bureaucratic despotism or the interventionist state. "Freedom is the daughter of art, of the human capacity to liberate societies that harbor very strong tendencies that lead them not to freedom but to servitude." In closing, Aguilar highlights Tocqueville's predictions about the social problems that have affected modern societies and lists some elements the author found in the United States that help to mitigate certain threats, such as statism. Enrique Aguilar He is a graduate of the Postgraduate Training Program in Social Sciences at the Torcuato Di Tella Institute and the Program of Hispanic, Latin American, and European Studies at the Ortega y Gasset Foundation in Spain. From 2001 to 2008, he was Director of the Institute of Political Science and International Relations at the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA). Since March 2009, he has been Director of Postgraduate Studies and Research at the same university. He is a full professor at UCA, Austral University, and FLACSO, where he also serves on the Academic Committee of the Master's Program in Sociology and Political Science. He is the author of several publications on topics within his field of expertise. His latest book is titled Alexis de Tocqueville. An introductory reading (Sudamericana, 2008). He directs the magazine Colección and is a weekly columnist for the Madrid newspaper El Imparcial. March 18, 2020 Visit: https://newmedia.ufm.edu/video/tocque...