American Political Thought Term Paper

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right' in the light of Alexis De Tocqueville's book, Democracy in America. The paper further expands on the idea of right as presented by other thinkers including Hegel, Bancroft and most recently Hardt and Negri.

Every person is born with an inherent sense of right and born which may later be altered, shaped or influenced by the society and person's own experiences. Philosophers have always been concerned with what they term the 'idea of right' and have expounded theories on how it is acquired, why it is needed and what happened when it ceases to exist. Alexis De Tocqueville was one such thinker who in his Magnus opus, Democracy in America, instructed readers to acquire an idea of right for he argued that it was impossible to build a great nation without a sense of right and wrong. Here idea of right must not be confused with 'rights' of people or right to certain important things like life, freedom or religion but here right is used in the context of virtue.

Tocqueville maintained that without an idea of right, it was impossible to conceive a great nation. People and governments must know what is right in order to proceed in the most appropriate direction, a direction that would ultimately yield most beneficial results. He wrote in Book I, Chapter 14 of his Democracy in America that: "No great people without an idea of right -- How the idea of right can be given to a people -- Respect for right in the United States -- Whence it rises. After the general idea of virtue, I know no higher principle than that of right; or rather these two ideas are united in one. The idea of right is simply that of virtue introduced into the political world. It was the idea of right that enabled men to define anarchy and tyranny, and that taught them how to be independent without arrogance and to obey without servility.

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The man who submits to violence is debased by his compliance; but when he submits to that right of authority, which he acknowledges in a fellow creature, he rises in some measure above the person who gives the command. There are no great men without virtue; and there are no great nations -- it may almost be added, there would be no society -- without respect for right ... "

Tocqueville's idea of right has been discussed and debated over the years resulting in even more theories on the notion of right. Classical political theory of the idea of right divided it into two branches or in simpler words, it asserts that right originates from two sources i.e. law and ethics. Legal idea of right means enforcement of right through various legal mechanisms such as court trial, treaties, and agreements and here force can be used to declare supremacy of right. On the other hand, ethical notion of idea dwells on self-enforced law of justice in a person's daily interactions with others. A person needs to possess an idea of what is right in order to operate with fairness and justice in his own personal sphere.

Tocqueville's idea of right has been shared by many other thinkers including Bancroft who in his massive 'History of the United States' asserted that it was idea of right and justice that led to demise of English imperialism. He maintains that when people decide to enforce the supremacy of right, revolution is the natural result. Bancroft believed that in the evolution of nations and shaping of history, the guiding principle has always been 'God-directed progress'. He felt that United States had turned into a great nation because it has a clear idea of right. Derek H. Davis (2004) throws light on Bancroft idea of right and explains that his work "was grounded in the….....

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