Democracy in America Today: Tocqueville, Congress, and Decentralized Power

Join host Johnny Burtka with Yuval Levin, Sarah Gustafson, Vincent Munoz, and Sohrab Ahmari for an in-depth conversation about Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America and its relevance to contemporary American politics. This roundtable explores Congress and democratic governance, the administrative state, religion in democracy, and the formation of democratic citizens in our modern age.TIMESTAMPS:0:00 - Why Congress must predominate in a republic7:22 - Andrew Jackson and the paradox of executive power20:50 - Who was Alexis de Tocqueville?27:18 - Tocqueville's reception in America through history36:14 - The pathologies of democracy and soft despotism51:37 - The bank war and Hamiltonian vs. Jacksonian visions1:11:00 - The New Deal, progressivism, and centralized power1:25:25 - Markets, government, and the problem of centralization1:29:27 - The democratic soul and forming citizens1:40:30 - Religion, morality, and American democracy today1:50:25 - Reforming institutions and educating the next generationFeatured Topics: Tocqueville, Congress, separation of powers, Andrew Jackson, administrative state, progressive era, federalism, subsidiarity, religious liberty, democratic soul, education, virtue ethics, institutional reform, aristocracy vs. democracyA production of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute | isi.orgProjectCosmos #Tocqueville #Democracy #Congress #PoliticalPhilosophy #AmericanGovernment #ISI