Resumen de Tocqueville y el populismo / Tocqueville and populism
- español
Este trabajo analiza la perspectiva de Alexis de Tocqueville sobre el populismo en dos momentos y lugares específicos: su viaje a América a principios de la década de 1830 y la revolución de 1848 en Francia. Aunque puede parecer anacrónico discutir la relación entre Alexis de Tocqueville y el populismo, los componentes centrales del populismo le eran conocidos a Tocqueville y a sus contemporáneos; probablemente los hubieran comprendido como una peculiar forma de demagogia. ¿Cómo se enfrentó Tocqueville al fenómeno de la política demagógica en su tiempo? Podemos adivinar con cierta facilidad que su posición frente a los demagogos fue crítica. Sin embargo, ¿cuáles fueron las razones de esa oposición? ¿Cuál era el entendimiento que Tocqueville tenía del liderazgo, los fundamentos y las consecuencias de lo que hoy llamaríamos populismo?AbstractThis paper analyzes Alexis de Tocqueville’s perspective on populism in two different places and moments in time: his trip to America at the beginning of the 1830s—which coincided with Andrew Jackson’s presidency—and the revolution of 1848 in France —which Tocqueville recounts in his Souvenirs. Discussing the relation between Tocqueville and populism may seem like an anachronism. However, the main components of populism—such as the direct appeal to the people, the charismatic leader, the ideological polarization that divides the world in friends and enemies, among others—were well-known to Tocqueville and his contemporaries. In general terms, contemporary populist politics would have been called demagogic during the nineteenth century. How did Tocqueville face demagogic politics during his time? It is easy to say that he was critical of demagogues. However, we can ask about the reasons for this criticism, as well as about Tocqueville’s understanding of what we would today call populist leadership and its consequences.
- English
This paper analyzes Alexis de Tocqueville’s perspective on populism in two different places and moments in time: his trip to America at the beginning of the 1830s—which coincided with Andrew Jackson’s presidency—and the revolution of 1848 in France —which Tocqueville recounts in his Souvenirs. Discussing the relation between Tocqueville and populism may seem like an anachronism. However, the main components of populism—such as the direct appeal to the people, the charismatic leader, the ideological polarization that divides the world in friends and enemies, among others—were well-known to Tocqueville and his contemporaries. In general terms, contemporary populist politics would have been called demagogic during the nineteenth century. How did Tocqueville face demagogic politics during his time? It is easy to say that he was critical of demagogues. However, we can ask about the reasons for this criticism, as well as about Tocqueville’s understanding of what we would today call populist leadership and its consequences.
