Alexis De Tocqueville Democracy In America

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Recommended: Tocqueville's perceived strengths and weaknesses of democracy

In the book, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville discusses a wide range of topics, with a prevalent topic being American attitudes and the democratic values of equality and freedom. But, there are some threats to the ideal democracy everyone visualizes when they think of America. These are mass society, democratic despotism and extremes of wealth and poverty. Tocqueville suggests multiple solutions to these issues, such as increasing judiciary power, utilizing social institutions to increase social awareness and SOMETHING>!!!@WRER. I think the issues of mass society, democratic despotism and the extremes of wealth and poverty are effectively dealt with through an increased social awareness and voluntary societal institutions, as …show more content…

In order to protect their equality and self in this vulnerable state, people submit to mob rule and allow themselves to be guided by the government, all the while sacrificing their liberty. The end result of this mass society thinking is a majority rule where the largest mass has all the power. This is directly related to the next issue of democratic despotism. While tyranny is oft thought of as a monarchal issue, despotism is extremely possible in a democracy through the drive for equality. This drive leads to what is considered a “soft” despotism with the majority overpowering everything and allows the government to stifle the will of man. This occurs because once mass society has developed, there is little independence of mind and one cannot contradict the majority. Statesmen are all but eradicated and in order to be elected, politicians have to appease the majority. Those people brave enough to stick their necks out and contradict the majority, are swiftly put down. A great example of this is Mao’s “let a thousand flowers bloom” movement to encourage citizens to release their inner desires and follow …show more content…

In order to combat the initial self-absorbed inward pattern of thought in most Americans, Tocqueville suggested that the pattern must be broken by encouraging citizens to look beyond their interests and lives. The first way to do so would be through utilizing the judicial system as a classroom for American citizens. Lawyers would take the place in society as a sort of “aristocrat” with the difference in thought level not being through manners but through the thought process being very reserved and logical through the laws of America. Strengthening the judicial system would allow there to be a system of jury duty for citizens. This would force citizens to think about others problems and affairs. It would also allow people to visualize the judges sentencing and identify that it is not a biased opinion; it is based upon what is best for society based upon specific evidence presented. Jury duty would create a sense of social responsibility and diminish self-absorption. This would prevent mass society, or if it was actively occurring, break the pattern, and effectively diminish the occurrence of democratic despotism. Then, there would be less of a risk for depraved equality to occur. Another suggested solution is to facilitate social institutions in society that citizens can voluntarily get involved in to temper mass society and despotism as this

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