L]egal charity has not only taken freedom of movement from the English poor but also from those who are threatened by poverty. -from "Memoir on Pauperism" Inspired by a trip to England at a time when that nation was in the throes of political, social, and economic strife and poverty was rampant, political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville developed his theories on civil society as it relates to its poorest members and set them down in this 1835 essay. With keen insight, he explains: .why the richest nations have the most paupers .why private charity is more likely to alleviate poverty than...

Bislang ist von Alexis de Tocqueville nur ein Teil seiner groen und kleineren Schriften auf Deutsch zuganglich. Damit fehlen hierzulande wichtige Voraussetzungen fur offentlich-wissenschaftliche Debatten uber die Aktualitat seiner Gedankenwelt. Diese Situation wird durch die nunmehr vorliegende reprasentative Sammlung kleiner politischer Schriften, die die thematische Breite des republikanisch-liberalen Denkers und Analytikers der modernen Demokratie demonstrieren, grundlegend anders.

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) was a French political thinker and historian, and wrote the famous work "Democracy in America" in two volumes. This work is renowned for characterising the American Institutions and adding to the understanding of the United States like no other. He analysed the social standards of people and the relationship between raising social standards and the free market. He thereby became one of the founding fathers of sociology and political science. This book is a seminal text in economic sociology. Tocqueville has the capacity to stand back from the object of his...