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• Translator’s Note
• Acknowledgments
• Key Terms
• Foreword
• The Manuscripts of Tocqueville
• Some Details Concerning the Present Edition
• Abbreviations and Symbols Used In This Edition
• Note On the Manuscripts
• Acknowledgments
• Illustrations
• Editor’s Introduction
• I: Legacies
• II: To Understand the Revolution
• Democracy In America a (1835), Volume I]: Part I
• Introduction a
• Chapter 1: Exterior Configuration of North America
• Chapter 2: Of the Point of Departure and Its Importance For the Future of the Anglo-americans a
• Reasons For Some Singularities That the Laws and Customs B of the Anglo-americans Present
• Chapter 3: Social State of the Anglo-americans
• That the Salient Point of the Social State of the Anglo-americans Is to Be Essentially Democratic
• Political Consequences of the Social State of the Anglo-americans
• Chapter 4: Of the Principle of the Sovereignty of the People In America
• Chapter 5: Necessity of Studying What Happens In the Individual States Before Speaking About the Government of the Union a
• Of the Town System In America C
• Town District
• Town Powers In New England
• Of Town Life
• Of Town Spirit In New England
• Of the County In New England
• Of Administration In New England a
• General Ideas On Administration In the United States
• Of the State
• Legislative Power of the State
• Of the Executive Power of the State
• Of the Political Effects of Administrative Decentralization In the United States C
• Chapter 6 A: of the Judicial Power In the United States and Its Action On Political Society B
• Other Powers Granted to American Judges
• Chapter 7: Of Political Jurisdiction In the United States Tn 4
• Chapter 8: Of the Federal Constitution
• Historical Background of the Federal Constitution a
• Summary Picture of the Federal Constitution J
• Attributions of the Federal Government
• Federal Powers
• Legislative Powers: R [difference Between the Constitution of the Senate and That of the House of Representatives]
• Another Difference Between the Senate and the House of Representatives W
• Of Executive Power 16
• How the Position of the President of the United States Differs From That of a Constitutional King In France
• Accidental Causes That Can Increase the Influence of the Executive Power
• Why the President of the United States, to Lead Public Affairs, Does Not Need to Have a Majority In the Chambers
• Of the Election of the President
• Mode of Election
• Election Crisis
• Of the Re-election of the President
• Of the Federal Courts 24
• Way of Determining the Jurisdiction Tn 5 of the Federal Courts
• Different Cases of Jurisdiction
• The Federal Courts’ Way of Proceeding
• Elevated Rank That the Supreme Court Occupies Among the Great Powers of the State
• How the Federal Constitution Is Superior to the State Constitutions
• What Distinguishes the Federal Constitution of the United States of America From All Other Federal Constitutions
• Of the Advantages of the Federal System In General, and of Its Special Utility For America M
• What Keeps the Federal System From Being Within the Reach of All Peoples; and What Has Allowed the Anglo-americans to Adopt It

Key Terms

Certain key terms used by Tocqueville present particular translation difficulties. Some, for example, have no precise English equivalent (e.g., lumières); others are extremely abstractor have a variety of meanings, depending on context. As translator, my goal was to choose the best alternative and then to be consistent throughout the edition. The following terms should be noted:

• •état social —translated closely as social state, instead of social condition.
• •idée mère —translated as either generative or main idea. The same principle is used for pensée mère,passion mère, etc. But science mère is rendered as mother science.
• •inquiétude —usually translated as restlessness (and inquiet as restless ), but sometimes it can be concern or worry. Earlier French dictionaries show that traditionally the word meant primarily an inability to be at rest, or restlessness; the more modern sense of worry or concern was not as important. A closely related word, agitation, is almost always rendered as the cognate, agitation, except occasionally when it is translated as constant motion or constant movement.
• •intérêt bien entendu—translated as interest well understood or well understood interest, rather than interest properly understood,self-interest properly/well understood, or enlightened self-interest, all of which are unnecessary glosses on the meaning.
• •liberté d’écrire—In English, for freedom of written expression, there is no equivalent such as freedom of speech for freedom of spoken expression; freedom of the press is a more specific term. So for liberté d’écrire, I have simply used freedom to write. Related terms to note include liberté de penser,freedom of thought, and liberté d’esprit,freedom of mind (in the sense of intellectual freedom).
• •lumières—usually translated as enlightenment, occasionally as knowledge or learning.
• •mœurs—translated as mores, not an ideal word, but the best available option in English.
• •pouvoir d’un seul—translated as power of one man or, occasionally, power of one man alone, rather than power of a single man, which is ambiguous.

In addition, the following less crucial, but still important words should be= noted:

• •affaires—almost always translated as public affairs, unless clearly otherwise (such as matters ).
• •empire—translated as dominion, or a few times, as sway or rule.
• •état—translated as State (upper case) when referring to the nation, the general political body; otherwise, state (lower case) when referring to one of the American states.
• •fonctionnaire—translated as officer when related to the American town (town officer); otherwise, official.
• •intelligences—No good English equivalent exists; usually translated as minds; sometimes the phrase is altered to use the adjective intellectual.
• •la justice—In certain chapters of Tocqueville’s book the word means justice, but usually it means the judicial system or court system.
• •législateur—translated as law-maker when Tocqueville is talking about the maker of fundamental law, the constitution-maker; otherwise, legislator.
• •patrie—translated as native land or country, rather than fatherland or homeland.
• •sauvage—either savage or wild, depending on the context.
• •solitudes—closely related to désert(s) (see Translator’s Note, p. xxii); usually translated as uninhabited (or empty ) places (or areas ), sometimes as wilderness, and once or twice as solitude or seclusion.