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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 continually offers opportunities for engaging discussion. Please see our events page for the full schedule for this semester. For photographs of Forum activities and for invitations to our events, join our Facebook group:
To subscribe to the Tocqueville Forum list for event notifications and news, send an e-mail to tocquevilleforum@georgetown.edu with subject line "Add to list".
IN THE NEWS
- The Tocqueville Forum features in Philanthropy Magazine's Winter 2009 issue.
- Rev. James Schall, S.J. Award mentioned in The Catholic Thing
- Tocqueville Forum featured in The Wall Street Journal
- Rev. James Schall, S.J. 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"
"The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens."
Announcements
Upcoming Events
- Feb 9, 6:30pm-8pm: Are the Suburbs a Mistake? Urbanism and Natural Law
- Feb 23, 5:30am-7am: Reimagining the 50's: Psychology, Sex, and Secularization
- Mar 18, 7pm-8:30pm: Civic Communitarian Conservatism: A Lecture by Phillip Blond