One of them was that in a society made up of equal citizens, the majority is always right. To de Tocqueville, a majority of equals, just like a single all-powerful ruler, could abuse its power. In a democracy, de Tocqueville argued, this abuse becomes the "tyranny of the majority."
Tocqueville believed that the American jury system was particularly important in educating citizens in self-government and rule of law. He often expressed how the civil jury system was one of the most effective showcases of democracy because it connected citizens with the true spirit of the justice system.
Alexis de Tocqueville, (born July 29, 1805, Paris, France—died April 16, 1859, Cannes), political scientist, historian, and politician, best known for Democracy in America, 4 vol. (1835–40), a perceptive analysis of the political and social system of the United States in the early 19th century.
The core of Tocqueville's American thesis is the singular combination of the spirit of religion and the spirit of liberty characteristic of the Puritan experiment in America, together with his dual claim that this fact both constitutes the proper starting point for understanding “American civilization” and provides “ ...
22A Discuss Alexis de Tocqueville's five values crucial to America's success as a constitutional republic: liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism, and laissez-faire.
The equality he discussed applied only to free, white adult males. De Tocqueville warned that the abuse of power in a democracy could lead to what he called the “tyranny of the majority”. Today, the US is a nation of over 300 million people, where a large and diverse population can vote and run for office.
He was a french sociologist and political theorist that traveled to the United States in 1831 to study its prisons and returned with a wealth of broader observations that he codified in "Democracy of America" (1835) which was one of the most influential books of the 19th century.
De Tocqueville sought to find the secret of American democracy. De Tocqueville's journal record, “Journey to America,” became the cornerstone for his enduring, two-volume masterpiece, Democracy in America.
Why did Alexis de Tocqueville believe that American society was egalitarian? All Americans had the same wealth. Americans lacked a hereditary social class of nobles. Americans had just abolished slavery just before his visit.
Alexis de Tocqueville is best known for Democracy in America, which he wrote after spending 10 months of 1831 and 1832 in the United States on a mission from France to study American prisons (then considered progressive).
View of Tocqueville With respect to American democracy, Tocqueville, in his book Democracy in America, says: So what is a majority taken as a whole, if not an individual who has opinions and, most often, interests contrary to another individual called the minority.
How did Alexis de Tocqueville react to his visit to the United States? Tocqueville was impressed with the preponderance of political equality he found in America.
Why did Alexis de Tocqueville believe that American society was egalitarian? All Americans had the same wealth. Americans lacked a hereditary social class of nobles. Americans had just abolished slavery just before his visit.
De Tocqueville sought to find the secret of American democracy. De Tocqueville's journal record, “Journey to America,” became the cornerstone for his enduring, two-volume masterpiece, Democracy in America.
Tocqueville argues that democracy or equality of conditions is the central, ineluctable tendency in modern western societies, and it worries him: Though it seems inevitable, it is fraught with dangers.
Alexis de Tocqueville is best known for Democracy in America, which he wrote after spending 10 months of 1831 and 1832 in the United States on a mission from France to study American prisons (then considered progressive).