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Democracy Project: The Guy Who First Called America Exceptional

Alexis de Toqueville, in a portrait by Théodore Chassériau
Wikimedia Commons
Alexis de Toqueville, in a portrait by Théodore Chassériau

It is a truism, but also sometimes true, that the keenest observers of a situation are people who stand outside of that situation.

Take Alexis de Toqueville, the French sociologist who visited the young United States in the 1830s. He was impressed by the country (and also horrified at times), and ended up writing several books, including one that saw something exceptional in the American democratic experiment.

The Democracy Project at Southern Oregon University looks to the works of Toqueville in a session offered exclusively here on the JX. SOU Philosophy Chair Prakash Chenjeri returns to talk Toqueville.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Angela Decker is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Geoffrey Riley hosts the show.