Harvard political scientist Harvey C. Mansfield begins this thematic survey with a question: "What sort of man was Alexis de Tocqueville?" He toys with several answers before fastening onto Tocqueville's own self-description as "a new kind of liberal."
"Religion," Mr. Mansfield explains, "reassures us that chance does not rule and confirms that human intentions can succeed, human actions make sense."
Mr. Mansfield explains, "Today Tocqueville is not known as a liberal, as is his friend John Stuart Mill, who wrote 'On Liberty' to explain and advocate liberal principles.
