Seeing Today by Looking Back

Only in America could a long-dead Frenchman have a prime-time television series of his own. Alexis de Tocqueville, aristocrat and acute observer of the American scene in the 1830s, would have found the idea amusing and totally American.

Tocqueville toured the United States in 1831-32 and compiled his observations and thoughts about U.S. life, society and governance in the classic book “Democracy in America.” American politicians and others ever since have invoked his truisms. “America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement” is one of those adaptable phrases.

His writings give pause for thought as we approach the next millennium. What is the state of democracy in America today?

An enterprising attempt to find answers comes from C-SPAN, the cable channel best known for gavel-to-gavel television coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives. Looking backward for fresh insights, C-SPAN is retracing Tocqueville’s nine-month American tour of 55 cities in 18 states.

The series will consist of 10 monthly prime-time specials beginning June 6. The focus will be on specific themes raised by Tocqueville: the federal system of government; the American environment, frontier and immigration; the American character and equality; education and town meetings; associations and volunteerism; race relations and minorities in America; religion and politics; the power of the presidency; the media and the prison system.

In addition to the specials, C-SPAN will air segments from cities visited by Tocqueville. The first was broadcast two weeks ago.

Viewers in the western states may feel a geographical distance from the material since the United States that Tocqueville traveled in the early 1830s extended only to the Great Plains. But stay tuned anyway. The leisurely C-SPAN project is a marvelous attempt to connect democracy in America today and in Tocqueville’s time. Learn and enjoy.