Tocqueville e i giuristi americani

This study aims to compare the portrayal of American jurists in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America with socio-political categories of elitist theory. The essay explores two main research areas: first, Tocqueville’s description of jurists as a cultural avant-garde; second, the reconstruction of the author’s anti-elitist orientation, especially in the transition from the first to the second Démocratie. The second section discusses the declining role of jurists in mass society. The final part identifies other cases aligning Tocqueville with elitist theories, including major American political parties, the Old regime’s nobility, and industrial aristocracy.