Democracy in America

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Cover of 2003 Penguin Classics edition of Democracy in America

De la démocratie en Amérique (published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840) is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville on the United States in the 1830s and its strengths and weaknesses. A literal translation of its title is Of the Democracy in America, but the common translation of the title is Democracy in America.

1 Tocqueville's visit to the Americas
2 Summary
3 Importance
4 Bibliography
5 External links

[edit] Tocqueville's visit to the Americas

In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont, both French, were sent by the French government to study the American prison system. They arrived in New York City in May of that year and spent nine months traveling around the United States, taking notes not only on prisons, but on all aspects of American society, including the nation's economy and its political system. The pair of men also briefly visited Canada, spending a few days in the summer of 1831 in what was then Lower Canada (modern-day Quebec) and Upper Canada (modern-day Ontario).

After they returned to France in February 1832, the two men submitted their penal report, entitled Du système pénitentaire aux États-Unis et de son application en France, in 1833. Beaumont would soon write a novel about race relations in the United States. Tocqueville, on the other hand, who was fascinated by American politics, wrote an analytical political and social tract, Democracy in America, which would become the far more influential work.

[edit] Summary

The primary focus of Democracy in America is an analysis of why republican representative democracy has succeeded in the United States when it failed in so many other places. He seeks to apply the functional aspects of democracy in America to what he sees as the failings of democracy in his native France.

Tocqueville also speculates on the future of democracy in the United States, discussing both possible threats to democracy and possible dangers of democracy, including his belief that democracy has a tendency to degenerate into what he calls "soft despotism" as well as describing the tyranny of the majority, a problem in all democracies. He also observed that the strong role religion played in the United States was due to its separation from the government, a separation all parties found agreeable. He contrasts this to France where there was what he perceived to be an unhealthy antagonism between democrats and religious people, which he relates to the connection between church and state.

[edit] Importance

Democracy in America was published in numerous editions in the 19th century. It was immediately popular in both Europe and the United States. By the twentieth century, it had become a classic work of political science, social science, and history. It is commonly assigned reading for undergraduates majoring in the political or social sciences.

Tocqueville's work is often acclaimed for making a number of predictions which were eventually borne out. Tocqueville correctly anticipates the potential of the debate over the abolition of slavery to tear apart the United States (as it indeed did in the American Civil War); however, he predicts that any part of the Union can get away with declaring independence. He also predicts the rise of the United States and Russia as superpowers.

Democracy in America was also seen to have its potential downside: the despotism of public opinion, the tyranny of majority, the absence of intellectual freedom which seemed to him to degrade administration and bring statesmanship, learning, and literature to the level of the lowest. Democracy in America predicted the violence of party spirit and the judgment of the wise subordinated to the prejudices of the ignorant. It is arguable whether these predictions also came to fruition.

Democracy in America is acclaimed for its author's perception, but it has also been criticized by recent scholars for gaps in its discussion; for instance, de Tocqueville almost ignores mentioning poverty in cities. It is speculated that this is primarily because during the time of the writing of Democracy in America - the early 1830s - poverty in America was not nearly as widespread, and as such not viewed as a crisis.