Overview

Following the approach developed by Alexis de Tocqueville, this volume views democracy as a cultural phenomenon. It starts from the assumption that if we are to adequately address concerns about the current state and future of modern Western democracies, we need first to tackle the cultural preconditions necessary for the functioning of a democracy. Since Tocqueville’s time, the book takes the most crucial change in the West to be ‘double secularisation’. Here, this concerns, first, the diminished influence of organised Christianity. Even though secularity was partly a product of Christianity, secularisation is highly significant in terms of the cultural underpinnings of Western democracy. Second, it involves a decreased interest in and knowledge of classical philosophy. Chapters on secularity, family life, civic life, and public spirit focus on central elements of the changed cultural foundation of democracy, exploring issues such as identity politics, the public space, and the role of human rights and natural law in a pluralistic and resilient democracy. The volume concludes with a closer look at the implications of current presentism, that is, the view that only the present counts for the legitimacy and effectiveness of democratic systems. Finally, it asks if double secularisation can also offer fresh opportunities for promoting the conditions of a viable democracy. The book will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of law and religion, constitutional law, political science, history, and philosophy. Chapter 4 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sophie van Bijsterveld ,  Hans-Martien ten Napel
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
ISBN:  

9781032640976

ISBN 10:   1032640979
Pages:   172
Publication Date:   26 December 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

1. Introduction: A New Political Science Sophie van Bijsterveld and Hans-Martien ten Napel 2. Secular Democracy and the Public Significance of Religion Sophie van Bijsterveld 3. Family Tensions in Tocqueville and Lasch: Two Perspectives on the Domestic Sphere and Democratic Life Sarah J. Wilford 4. Associational Life and Liberty: A Critical Assessment of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America David Thunder 5. Conservatism, Enlightened Self Interest, and a Threatened Civilizational Order John D. Wilsey 6. Building a Democratic Identity: Self-Interest and Moral Imagination Stacey Hibbs 7. Why a Secularized and Pluralistic Democracy Needs Faith Jonathan Chaplin 8. Freedom and Human Rights Trey Dimsdale 9. Truth, Unity, and Pluralism Hans-Martien ten Napel 10. Tocqueville’s Legal Spirit as a Force of Hope for Presentist Democracy Carinne Elion-Valter

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Author Information

Sophie van Bijsterveld is Professor of Religion, Law, and Society at Radboud University, the Netherlands. Hans-Martien ten Napel is Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden University, the Netherlands.

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