Alexis De Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his seminal works Democracy in America (published in two volumes, 1835 and 1840) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). Tocqueville traveled to the United States in 1831 to study its prison system and democracy, which deeply influenced his writings and political thought. He was active in French politics during the July Monarchy and the Second Republic.