This new abridged translation of Democracy in America reflects the rich Tocqueville scholarship of the past forty years, and restores chapters central to Tocqueville’s analysis absent from previous abridgments including his discussions of enlightened self-interest and the public’s influence on ethical standards. Judicious notes and a thoughtful Introduction offer aids to the understanding of a masterpiece of nineteenth-century social thought that continues in our own day to illuminate debates about the roles of liberty and equality in American life.