It seems appropriate that, due to the Iraq war, the world has been debating the nature of democracy 200 years after Alexis de Tocqueville’s birth. Tocqueville is justly famous for rejecting reactionary nostalgia and regarding democracy’s triumph as our destiny, while warning against the dangers that democracy holds for liberty.
托克维克出生200年后，世界由于伊拉克战争而就民主的性质展开辩论，这看起来合乎时宜。托克维克拒绝反动的恋旧，认为我们注定会获得民主的胜利，同时又警告民主对自由构成危险。他因此理所当然地闻名于世。我们如今是否依然应当像他那样担心呢？