Why did Alexis de Tocqueville write this book? Why did he do all the work to travel, talk with people, and write down his observations in a 1,000 page book? As I see it, de Tocqueville did all this as a way to compare governments, for the troubled times of France
Alexis de Tocqueville knew that the United States had a fairly successful government. In contrast, his native France had been having revolutions during his life. Therefore, I believe that his idea was to study America, see how it worked, then take his observations back to France. In this book, he would have:
1. objective observations2. opinions of things which worked, and therefore might do well in France, and3. opinions of things which didn't work, or which worked in America but wouldn't work well in France.
His focus was not so much on America, but on the government in America. He wanted to understand the culture, understand the government, and then report his findings to the leaders of France. This is why Alexis de Tocqueville wrote the book "Democracy in America."
