{"product_id":"alexis-de-tocqueville-the-first-jon-elster-9780521518444","title":"Alexis de Tocqueville, the First Social Scientist","description":"The book proposes a new interpretation of Alexis de Tocqueville that views him first and foremost as a social scientist rather than as a political theorist. Drawing on his earlier work on the explanation of social behavior, Elster argues that Tocqueville's main claim to our attention today rests on the large number of exportable causal mechanisms to be found in his work, many of which are still worthy of further exploration. Elster proposes a novel reading of Democracy in America in which the key explanatory variable is the rapid economic and political turnover rather than equality of wealth at any given point in time. He also offers a reading of The Ancien R gime and the Revolution as grounded in the psychological relations among the peasantry, the bourgeoisie, and the nobility. Consistently going beyond exegetical commentary, he argues that Tocqueville is eminently worth reading today for his substantive and methodological insights.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jon Elster\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 052151844X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780521518444\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Cambridge University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/27\/2009\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 212\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.95lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.20w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChronicle of Higher Education\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/26\/2009 pg. 17","brand":"Jon Elster","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44311026565375,"sku":"9780521518444","price":65.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_a7e90bcb-cd2f-45e9-851b-bbdff9795d86.jpg?v=1695720699","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/alexis-de-tocqueville-the-first-jon-elster-9780521518444","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}