http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/freedom-of-thought Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Tue, 21 Apr 2026 05:07:55 -0400 Tue, 21 Apr 2026 05:07:55 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/516/custine-tocqueville-and-intellectual-autonomy-in-comparative-politics By Tristan Gans - The most obvious and immediate difference between Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America and Astolphe de Custine’s Letters from Russia is one of style.[1] Put simply, Tocqueville’s text is an impersonal social-scientific treatise, while Custine’s is a personal narrative of observation. However, the two men traveled abroad with the common intention of examining societies that functioned through certain idealized political and social paradigms. More specifically, one might say that both examine the role of government and political culture in suppressing the subjective... Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:15 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/516/custine-tocqueville-and-intellectual-autonomy-in-comparative-politics