Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

Democratic juries are a key example of active political life in America.Īfter discussing some of the advantages and disadvantages of great size, Tocqueville discusses the ways America has avoided the dangers of large kingdoms.

Tocqueville elaborates a number of features of America’s federalist system, which divides power between the national capital, the states, and local townships, stressing the ways this system both maintains individual freedom and encourages people to play an active role in their nation’s political affairs. He maintains that this helps to mitigate the dangers of highly centralized administration, which can numb or “enervate” nations. Tocqueville first describes the basis of American society by giving a historical account of the Pilgrims who first arrived from England, and the ways in which sovereignty of the people was established quite early on, most notably through the dissemination of power into various townships. However, given that it’s impossible to halt the forces of democratization, he suggests that it would be useful to consider the example of American democracy, where equality of condition has developed further than anywhere else. Tocqueville describes a number of broad historical reasons for these changes, and then admits that he himself is terrified of this democratizing process. Although France-and Europe in general-have long been home to aristocratic monarchies (where a king and queen rule but an aristocratic class also retains power and privileges based on birth), equality of condition (a leveling out of social class hierarchies) is increasingly coming to replace such customs. Alexis de Tocqueville begins Democracy in America by discussing present-day conditions in his own nation, France.

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville