Colonialism and racism in Alexis de Tocqueville

The French journalist politician and historian Alexis de Tocqueville is considered the founder of comparative political science and the first author of modern democratic theory. In his magnum opus on political theory 'De la démocratie en Amérique' (Democracy in America) he outlines a model of democratic-republican government and political society. In his treatise Christoph M. Weishäupl examines Tocqueville's postulated possibility of legitimate conditions of inequality and oppression in and through democratic state and social orders. These findings are analysed in line with Tocqueville's theoretical and practical foundations as well as his contemporary realities. The work provides a well-founded insight into the historical context of the emergence of Tocqueville's theory and illustrates the existence of colonialism and racism in democratic systems of order using the early history of the United States of America and French expansion in Algeria as examples. The entire construct of the theory can be interpreted as an example of pragmatic realpolitik.