ABSTRACT
Tocqueville had seen that equality and liberty were the electric forces of America’s social reproduction in America mistrust of the potency of the state ran through the entire political mind-set. The continual exchange between the experiences of Europe and America meant that America would follow Europe and come to adopt a more collectivist view of the state in line with European social democracy. In the case of the labouring class, Mill sees that they are responsible for a major social transformation taking place. John Stuart Mill’s solution to the problem of the shift of political and social power is indicative of the strong idealist and realist elements concurrently running through his thought. Marquis de Condorget’s argument for women having civil rights was consistent in its advocacy that such rights should also be accompanied by political rights provided the property qualifications for the vote were also met.
