Democracy in America Today: Preface to the 2007 Edition of Habits of the Heart

In Habits of the Heart we draw heavily from Tocqueville's Democracy in America, a book that went far in making democracy a good word.1 It is worth remembering that, in most of western history, democracy was thought to be a bad form of government, quite different from a republic, which was usual...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociology of religion 2007-06, Vol.68 (2), p.213-217
Main Authors: Bellah, Robert N., Madsen, Richard, Sullivan, William M., Swidler, Ann, Tipton, Steven M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Authors
Beliefs, opinions and attitudes
Christianity
Commitment
Democracy
Evaluation
Habits
History
Income distribution
Individualism
Politics
Religiosity
Religious beliefs
Religious influences
Religious studies
U.S.A
United States
United States of America
Writers
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Summary:In Habits of the Heart we draw heavily from Tocqueville's Democracy in America, a book that went far in making democracy a good word.1 It is worth remembering that, in most of western history, democracy was thought to be a bad form of government, quite different from a republic, which was usually viewed as a "mixed constitution," with monarchic, aristocratic, and democratic elements, none of them predominating. [...] since the publication of Habits in 1985, the growth of global inequality has continued its ominous march, and awareness of it is increasing, even to the point where Marxism is making a comeback in some quarters, as Tony Judt has recently warned.9 No sane person should welcome the return of a dogmatic ideological system that seems inevitably linked to a coercive state.
ISSN:1069-4404
1759-8818
DOI:10.1093/socrel/68.2.213