Of Tocqueville and Townships

What is a "township," and why does it matter?

Roger de La Fresnaye, Village at the Water's Edge, 1910

I recently gave a presentation on Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, and wanted to share some of the notes from that lecture and discussion with you all.

During this presentation and discussion, I realized just how excited Generation Z can get about the subject of place, and I want to share some thoughts on that later. First, however, I thought I would share some thoughts on Tocqueville and the township that my reading and study presented.

The big idea I walked away with, after this re-reading of Tocqueville, is that he really doesn’t praise the township qua township. Tocqueville doesn’t love townships just because they’re small. He doesn’t love all townships indiscriminately. He is trying to highlight the virtues of good, healthy, democratic townships. But he also hints at the potential evils of the township in a way that I wanted to unpack.