While the traditional Enlightenment view states that the idea of egalitarianism emerged from a declining influence of religion in society, Tocqueville argues that the tenets of Christianity, in particular, are rooted in the notion of equality. Indeed, he suggests that Christianity has the potential to serve as a driving force in the promotion of equality among individuals within societies. The Christian church in China, with its emphasis on equality, seems to support Tocqueville's assertion. This message has been especially well received in rural areas, where residents are well aware of the urban-rural economic divide.

Furthermore, Tocqueville believes that Christianity--Protestantism, in particular--and the independent set of associations it creates, is one of the main animating forces behind republicanism. Tocqueville is aware, however, that religion has in the past been used to promote despotic and inequitable regimes. The role of Christianity in a society, therefore, seems to depend both on the particular form of Christianity practiced and the structure of the state. In a republican democracy such as the United States, Christianity acts as a stabilizing force and serves to moderate liberal politics, based on notions of individual rights and the individual "pursuit of happiness." Religion encourages free regimes by imposing moral limits on men, creating individuals who are civilly free but morally restrained. In an authoritarian regime, religion’s role is more complex: on the one hand, if it emphasizes hierarchy and obedience (as did the Christendom of the Middle Ages), it can act as a stabilizing force for the existing regime. On the other hand, if it emphasizes equality and allegiance to an entity higher than the state, it can challenge the existing political order.

Tocqueville notes certain secular alternatives to religion--such as revolutionary ideologies--for their hopefulness, but believes that they can never fully satisfy human beings because they are rooted in the material world. These secular ideologies, Tocqueville explains, often produce a human willfulness that results in the creation of totalitarian regimes.

Despite his praise for religion--and its value in forming and maintaining republican democracy--Tocqueville is not an advocate of a religious establishment; that is, a state-supported religion. Religion can not only survive without state support, he argues, but, in fact, it seems to flourish in its absence. Meanwhile, the state can survive without religious sanction: Indeed the union of the two weakens both.

As we move ahead in our discussion of China, we must identify the modern, Chinese analog to Tocqueville's concept of religion, and discern whether it will have a stabilizing or a disruptive influence on the Chinese political order, and whether or not it will enhance calls for political liberalization.

Session II: Religion in China

1. Alexis de Tocqueville on Religion
2. The Role of Christianity in China
3. The Role of Popular Religions in Chinese Society
4. The State's Response: Confucianism and Morality Campaigns