Civil Institutions and Democratic Life in the United States. In Honor of Olivier Zunz. Introduction

The question of what role civil institutions play in democratic life in the United States weaves through the entire work of historian Olivier Zunz. In honor of his long career, this special issue engages with Zunz’s contributions to our understanding of this crucial feature of American social and political history, its five essays tackling his insights in original ways and opening new directions for research. To open this issue, the introduction links Zunz’s scholarship to Alexis de Tocqueville’s thoughts on democracy and the role of voluntary associations, retraces Zunz’s engagement with Tocqueville’s work, and ponders the relevance and limits of this theme when analyzing the United States today.