June 2023: The Challenges of Democracy in a Diverse Society

Please join us in June 2023 for a Virtual Reading Group with Scott Yenor. 

Pre-registration is required, and we ask you to register only if you can be present for ALL sessions. All readings are available online. You may use promo code VRG2023 to receive 35% off your purchase at Liberty Fund Books. Participants who successfully complete ALL sessions will be eligible to receive an Amazon e-gift certificate.

One of the most dearly cherished assumptions in American life is the promise of democracy. We believe in multi-racial democracy--and aspire to be one. Other parts of the world, however, have had a very difficult time building a political community that is both multi-racial and democratic. If people vote with their ethnos or think that voting for their ethnic group is in their interests, then the vision of the government is one where different ethnic groups extract benefits for their group from the rest of the groups. Democracy is difficult in those circumstances. 

The promise of liberalism is the promise of overcoming the pull of ethnic groups, but is that promise realistic? Recent episodes in American history make this a much more live question than it was twenty or even fifty years ago. We are going to travel back and see what Alexis de Tocqueville has to say about this question because, in his view, America was the very first country that raised the question of multi-racial democracy in his unjustly neglected "Some Considerations on the Present State and Probable Futures of the Three Races That Inhabit the Territory of the United States." He was extremely pessimistic, but for interesting and important reasons. His thoughts get to the nature of race and race relations--and to the prerequisites for a political community, uncluttered by the cliches and controversies of today.

Session I: Tuesday, June 6, 2023, 2:00-3:00 pm EDT, The General Problem of Multi-Racial Democracy and the Fate of the American Indians

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Chapter 10, “Some Considerations on the Present State and Probable Future of the Three Races That Inhabit the Territory of the United States” (pp. 515-547)

Session II: Tuesday, June 13, 2023, 2:00-3:00 pm EDT, The Problem of Anglos and Slavery

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Chapter 10, “Some Considerations on the Present State and Probable Future of the Three Races That Inhabit the Territory of the United States” (pp. 548-572(ending with first paragraph))

Session III: Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 2:00-3:00 pm EDT, The Union during and after Slavery

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Chapter 10, “Some Considerations on the Present State and Probable Future of the Three Races That Inhabit the Territory of the United States” (pp. 572(starting with second paragraph)-582)

Frederick Douglaass, “The United States Cannot Remain Half- Slave and Half-Free”, April 16, 1883