The Ideology And Contemporary Value Of Tocqueville's "The Spirit Of Township Autonomy"

Tocqueville was a famous French political thinker,a founder of political sociology and also a strong patriot in the 19 th century.The spirit of township autonomy has entered into the people's vision through Tocqueville's discoveries in the United States and specific descriptions of his representative work “Democracy in America”.Then the spirit of township autonomy became an important factor that must be considered in the construction of democratic politics and innovation in social governance.Stems from political practice,the spirit of township autonomy is a set of local public sentiments that adapt to democracy(development)and lay a foundation for democracy and have long-term influence on the entire political society.The spirit of township autonomy are the emotions that township residents have generated during the process of actively participating in the public affairs of the township,which include such feelings as pride,reliance,devotion and attachment for their township.By summarizing Tocqueville's series of classical dissertations about the township autonomy of the United States and the spirit of township autonomy and combining these summaries with historical background and development process,this article focus on Tocqueville's ideology constitution of “the spirit of township autonomy” and try to evaluate his own ideological discourse,and eventually,find its saving grace which could be a reference for the democracy construction in our country.Township autonomy is not only a local system,but a broader autonomy spirit that encompasses a wide range of public spirits,individualist spirits,associational spirits,and democratic participation.These spirits still have certain reference significance in the modernization process of social governance.This dissertation consists of four parts.The first part starts with the review of ideology texts that Tocqueville have researched.First,it sorts out the historical evolution of township self-government by taking American's township self-governance as research target.Followed by the general review of township self-government thoughts.Tracing the origins of township autonomy and its ideology both from the realistic path and from the theoretical roots,which means trace it from the ancient Greece,the cradle of the history of political thought,to find the nature of the township autonomy system and the self-government spirit.Therefore,better the exploration of context of the system and the thoughts,more scientific the research information is.The second part is the core of this article with discussions of the specific contents of the spirit of township autonomy.After reading Tocqueville's related works,I deem that core constitutive factors of the spirit of township autonomy are four dimensions--public spirit(or patriotism),individualism,association,and democratic participation.Public spirit,as the quintessence of the spirit of self-government,prompts citizens to pursue public interests in common;spirit of individualism runs through the entire liberal ideology system and sets the realization of individual rights as a value goal;spirit of association is the most direct manifestation of freedom and equality in a democratic society in Tocqueville's “township autonomy” thoughts;spirit of democratic participation boosts the enthusiasm of citizens participating in social governance and this is the ultimate goal of the spirit of self-government and the democratic system.The four dimensions are interlocking and logical,and ultimately constitute a complete and systematic "township autonomy" thought.The third part is mainly about the dialectical evaluation of Tocqueville's ideology of "the spirit of township autonomy".On one hand,the author demonstrates its positive influence on history and the entire democratic political development.Historically,Tocqueville's political thought is a product of his are.He took social order was maintained by the spirit of American public sentiment as a reference and considered the status quo in France.Judging from the development of democratic politics,Tocqueville had constructively created a democratic development path with society as its carrier based on the origins and practical investigations of Western democratic thoughts.On the other hand,Tocqueville's own ideas have limitations and conflicts,such as his ambiguous definition of individualism,public spirit and the scope of analysis of township autonomy itself.The reason is that Tocqueville's modern liberalism ideology is based on classical liberalism,conservatism,and even utilitarianism with each has its own fundamental problems.The fourth part regards Tocqueville's thought as the consideration of the contemporary value.Combined with the practice of our nation's social governance,this article presents corresponding thoughts and suggestions from the fact that the spirit of township autonomy can stand the test of time and still has advantageous effects for society.The first is to strengthen the cultivation of public spirit and unite citizens' consensus.The second is to explore the construction path that suits the development of China's democratic system based on national conditions and culture.The third is to play a role of citizens and enlarge the orderly participation of citizens in social governance.