In Chapter 6, N-B make the point that Americans operate on a concept which Tocqueville called “self-interest well-understood.”  This principle fosters democracy because it promotes a win-win situation, whereas traditional French thinking operates on a winner-take-all model (p.78).

Write a short essay beginning with the sentence: “In reading about French history and reflecting on N-B’s analysis of the French disdain for compromise, I was struck by….”  Be sure to cite specific examples from three different periods of history that either strengthen or weaken N-B’s hypothesis that the French mind-set favors the winner-take-all outcome.

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t be Wrong: What Makes the French So French?

by Jean-Benoit Nadeau,  Julie Barlow  (Author)