I. Why are Alexis de Tocqueville's observations of the "Democracy in America", although 160 years old, still surprisingly relevant to Political Theory today?
 
     What will I do in this paper?
 
   II.  What is postmodernity?
            How did Tocqueville speak of Nietzsche, Rorty and Gray?

    But did Tocqueville understand the deeper search for identity and belonging in those who join a parochial pack in search for truth?

    Is Tocqueville's democratic condition the post-modern condition, his answer of aristocratic institutions and participatory habits an answer to postmodernity?

    III. Having outlined the postmodern context of this paper - what can we expect Tocqueville to tell to a liberal democracy in postmodern times?
 
    IV. Why are human beings story-telling beings?

   What exactly is a narrative, and what kind of narratives are there?

    How should we think of narratives?
             Are narratives merely stories that amuse and entertain?
 
    Why is Tocqueville so important in the debate about narratives?

     V. Tocqueville's Introduction to Democracy in America in Translation

    VI. What is the essence of Tocqueville's insights rightly understood?

    The liberal narrative has produced a largely liberal order - so far, so good?

    Is Liberalism then "too universal"?
 
    VII. What can Tocqueville help modern liberalism, or better: modern democratic citizens?

    Did Tocqueville foresee the evacuation of the political sphere and the disenchantment of McWorld?

    VIII. What are aristocratic institutions?

    What do these aristocratic institutions have in common?

    How is this relevant to narratives?

    Can a whole democratic people be held together by an aristocratic narrative?

    What are the weaknesses of the patriotic narrative?
            Does this mean that local, moral, ethnic or religious narratives may have an advantage over secular state-building narratives? .

    IX. Where do we go from here - particular chaos or universal community?

    X. Why is the religious narrative the ultimate narrative?

    Why religous dogmas?

    Might the problem of a secular and democratic world be the loss of God?

    XI. What then, are the implications for liberalism, religions, and civil society in the future?
    The failure of the liberal narrative today
    Democracy, Liberalism, Republicanism
    Religions
    A civil society
    A new understanding of the human task
    Change and Compromise
    How do we assume the humility that allows for questions?
    Truth will be a puzzle