Hans-Martien ten Napel on Tocqueville and modern democracy
Recently, Hans-Martien ten Napel was in the news on the above subject several times.
On 16 February, Hans-Martien ten Napel, together with Professor of Religion, Law, and Society at Radboud University Sophie van Bijsterveld, contributed to a Radboud Reflects’ programme on what the French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville would think of modern Dutch democracy. A podcast and a video of the programme that drew 300 registered participants are now available here.
In the run-up to the programme, Van Bijsterveld and Ten Napel also published an essay on 'Tocqueville and modern democracy' on Het Goede Leven and an opinion article 'Wat wij in de toeslagenaffaire kunnen leren van Tocqueville' (What we can learn from Tocqueville in the child benefits scandal), in the Reformatorisch Dagblad.
The programme and publications build on the recently published volume by Boom juridisch, Een nieuwe politieke formule. Ideeën voor staat en samenleving geïnspireerd door Alexis de Tocqueville (A New Political Formula. Ideas for State and Society Inspired by Alexis de Tocqueville) (2021). Maatschappij & Politiek, Vakblad voor Maatschappijleer (Society & Politics, Professional Journal for Social Studies) (21-01), a publication of ProDemos - House for Democracy and the Rule of Law, contains this pre-publication, with a review.
During the upcoming fourth conference of the European Academy of Religion in Münster (Germany), or online, Van Bijsterveld and Ten Napel hope to chair an international panel on 'Tocqueville, Religion & Democracy'.