29
normative; it is concerned not only to shed light on the distinctive features of a newly
emerging world, but also with shaping the souls of those destined to live within it.
(3) Education Relative to the Regime. Aristotle argues that one of the most
important measures for regime longevity resides in the ability of statesmen (and political
philosophers) to provide citizens with an education that to some degree counteracts the
dominant tendencies of the regime (Politics 5.9.1310a12-17). Since every regime
embraces a partial vision of justice, it necessarily disenfranchises some of its members
with inevitably destabilizing results over time. Aristotle’s endorsement of education
“relative to the regime” is not an attempt to subvert, but rather to enlarge the
understanding and practice of justice in any given political context.
This understanding of politics animates not only several of Tocqueville’s specific
suggestions, but, more importantly, his enterprise as a whole. It is perhaps most clearly
seen in the persistent contrast between democratic and aristocratic sensibilities in
Democracy in America. One example is the importance that Tocqueville attributes to the
legal profession in America. He looks especially to lawyers as bearers of an acceptable
range of functionally “aristocratic” sensibilities, something that furnishes America with
resources capable of providing a salutary check on some of the most extreme tendencies
of democratic societies (Tocqueville 2000, 251-58; cf. Gannett 2003, esp. 11-12). More
generally, Tocqueville’s ability to recognize and evaluate the advantages and liabilities of
both aristocratic and democratic forms of government reveals a political perspective that
is not limited to either of these regime types. Like Aristotle and the classical tradition
generally, Tocqueville conveys a deep sense of the limited capacity of any form of
government to meet the legitimate aspiration of its citizens to justice (cf. Politics 3.9-17
Convention