Alexis de Tocqueville (translation by Harvey C. Mansfield & Delba Winthrop): Democracy In America

Written in the 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy In America remains one of the most essential accounts of American democracy from an outsider's perspective. Arriving from France in 1831, de Tocqueville traveled the country while taking note of its rules and social practices, from its people's behavior to its representative government. A fair and intelligent observer, de Tocqueville took copious notes and wrote with great admiration, but his honesty never faltered as he pointed out the need for improvement in areas America still hasn't addressed. De Tocqueville's relatively hunky-dory portrait of the country arrived shortly before the Civil War, which surely would have led him to paint a different picture. Yet the nation endured, no doubt partially due to the ingrained notions of individuality and freedom he captures. Fast-forward about 150 years to China's Tiananmen Square massacre. Details about the 1989 event are still sketchy, but the killings still haunt the world as one of the most violent political overreactions of the 20th century. What began as a hunger strike for small changes became a huge cry for extensive reform, but the would-be revolution was quashed when the Chinese government sent in troops and tanks. The Tiananmen Papers is purportedly a series of transcripts of the meetings that occurred at the highest levels of government, smuggled out by an official and now published under a pseudonym with the help of a few American academics, who attest to the book's authenticity. While there's no definitive way for a layperson to determine the book's provenance, it's hard to believe such a detailed behind-the-scenes account could be entirely fabricated. Even if it is a fake, The Tiananmen Papers stands as an achievement in and of itself. Unlike such infamous frauds as The Hitler Diaries, The Tiananmen Papers isn't exploitative, instead relating directly to the ongoing struggle against oppression and the thought process that finds change a threat. The book's most illuminating discovery is the apparent fact that a majority of China's Standing Committee of the Politburo would have favored a continuing dialogue with the student protesters over force, but they were overruled by the Elders, the stodgy old-school iron-fists still influenced by Deng Xiaoping's lingering presence. At this point, there's no predicting all the ramifications of that historic decision, though it did ensure at least several more years of Communist rule. There's also no telling what effect The Tiananmen Papers will have, especially if it's ever published in China. Fact or fiction, it still works as fuel for revolution, just as Democracy In America still stands as an enticing portrayal of a better system.