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The Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy, an initiative housed in the Department of Government at Georgetown University, seeks to advance the study of America's founding principles and their roots in the Western philosophical and religious traditions. Named for Alexis de Tocqueville, the 19th-century French observer of America, the Forum endeavors to emulate Tocqueville's sympathetic and penetrating exploration of the origins of and prospects for American constitutional democracy.
Sponsoring events such as conferences, lectures and colloquia on the campus of Georgetown University, the Tocqueville Forum hopes to deepen classical liberal learning and elevate the civic understanding of the students of Georgetown University and the next generation of citizens and leaders. More... 
Events
The Tocqueville Forum was extremely active during the 2007-08 academic year, holding numerous events that were uniformly well-attended and which drew many excited and energetic responses. The 2007-08 year included a lecture series entitled "Alexis de Tocqueville and the American Tradition" featuring lectures by Harvey C. Mansfield of Harvard University, Peter Augustine Lawler of Berry College and French political philosopher Chantal Delsol.
During the Fall the Tocqueville Forum sponsored a very well attended roundtable considering the "Regensburg Lecture" of Pope Benedict XVI, during which the creation of the Rev. James V. Schall Award for Humane Letters and Teaching was announced. That award was conferred during the past Spring upon Professor Ralph McInerny of the University of Notre Dame.
The first Tocqueville Forum sponsored student conference on "The American Polity" was held in the Spring 2008, at which several Georgetown students, in addition to guests from Princeton University, presented work ranging from considerations of Edmund Burke to theories of congressional representation at several well-attended panels. Student Fellows were treated to a ranging conversation with Weekly Standard editor and New York Times columnist William Kristol at the opening dinner of the conference. Student fellows were also treated to a number of smaller, private events throughout the year, including informal discussions with Civil War historian James McPherson, conversations with Lee Edwards of the Heritage Foundation and a deligthful exploration of the thought of John Henry Cardinal Newman with Georgetown theology professor Fr. Stephen Fields, S.J.
Please visit this spot again in the late summer for information about the upcoming schedule of events during the 2008-09 academic year.
Tocqueville Forum in the News
- Tocqueville Forum featured in The Wall Street Journal
- Rev. James Schall Award featured in Ignatius Insight
- NAS executive director Peter Wood mentions Georgetown initiative as "programs of Western civilization planted on the shores of the alien empires that universities have become" in speech to Minnesota Association of Scholars
- Deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Thomas K. Lindsay, identified an initiative at Georgetown University - meaning the Tocqueville Forum - as an exemplary program seeking to foster deeper understanding of American principles and citzenship.
- Philadelphia Inquirer story features Tocqueville Forum Spring 2008 event on ""Living with the Dead: Why Cities Need Cemeteries and Nations Need Memorials"
"Freedom sees religion as the companion of its struggles and triumphs, the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its rights. Religion is considered as the guardian of mores, and mores are regarded as the guarantee of laws..."