Originally contracted to report on the American prison system, Alexis de Tocqueville arrived in the nascent country and found that a greater study needed to take place, that which showed why representative democracy seemed to be thriving in America while failing across the world. The results of this study are compiled in his landmark work, Democracy in America, the first volume of which would be published in 1835 and the second in 1840.

The book fundamentally changed the way Americans perceived their own country and how the world perceived Americans. Tocqueville dives deep into several unique aspects of American society, most notably its foundation in social equality, the seemingly impossible mix of religious fervor and political freedom, and the vast differences between the different states and regions. He also predicts that the US and Russia will rise as rival superpowers, that race will continue to dominate American politics even after the abolition of slavery, and that majority rule could mutate into social coercion without the minority feeling safe to dissent. Tocqueville's outsider-focused research and prescient ideas make the book a refreshing and valuable resource for modern readers who want to deepen their understanding of American history and the history of Democracy as a whole.

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Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (1805 ? 1859) was a French diplomat, historian, and political philosopher. Much of his writing centered on the living conditions and social norms of Western societies, specifically how these influence the individual's relationship to the market and the state. His most notable works are Democracy in America (1835,1840) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856), the former of which is considered a prototypical work of sociology and political science. Tocqueville was born to an aristocratic family that was nearly destroyed in the French revolution. Malesherbes, statesman and grandfather to Tocqueville, faced the guillotine in 1793. His parents were only saved by the fall of Maximilien Robespierre in 1794. His political career saw him oscillating between center-left and center-right beliefs, although he was always a fervent supporter of free trade, universal suffrage, and political liberty. In 1831, he began his travels abroad via a mission to examine prisons and penitentiaries in the United States and continued over the years to England, Ireland, and Algeria. In 1859, he succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of 53 after battling the disease for most of his adult life.