Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America emerged from a time of profound changes in Europe and the United States, shaping his observations on democracy’s possibilities and perils. Writing in the 1830s, Tocqueville was deeply influenced by his experiences in France, a country that had undergone decades of political upheaval following the French Revolution. These changes led to alternating periods of monarchy, empire, and brief republicanism. By Tocqueville’s time, France was under the July Monarchy, a constitutional monarchy that limited democratic freedoms and maintained social hierarchies. Tocqueville’s aristocratic background, coupled with his family’s traumatic experience during the Revolution, instilled in him a skepticism of democracy’s radical potential. He wanted to understand if and how democracy could be stable, dynamic, and protective of individual liberties without succumbing to disorder.
The United States, which he visited in 1831, represented a unique democratic experiment, free from Europe’s entrenched aristocratic structures. In contrast to the centralized monarchies of Europe, America’s decentralized governance, with strong local institutions, embodied a new model for self-rule. Tocqueville recognized this decentralized structure as vital for democracy, as it allowed citizens to actively engage in local governance and develop civic responsibility. For him, these practices prevented the excessive centralization he saw in Europe, which he feared could lead to “soft despotism,” a form of democratic passivity where people rely too heavily on government at the expense of personal responsibility.
Industrialization, which was beginning to reshape Western economies, further shaped Tocqueville’s concerns. He anticipated that economic shifts might create new inequalities – as wealth would increasingly concentrate and the working class grow – potentially weakening the social cohesion democracy required. In America, he observed a certain fluidity in class structures that Europe lacked. However, he was cautious, noting that democratic equality might foster a strongly individualistic culture, where people prioritize personal goals over collective welfare, potentially undermining the democratic fabric.
Religion also played a unique role in the American context. Tocqueville observed that, unlike secular France, America’s religious institutions supported democratic ideals without intervening in governance directly. He believed that religion could provide a moral foundation for a democratic society, instilling values of virtue and self-restraint that were essential for democracy to thrive without coercive authority, in the sense Adam Smith had written some years ago in his Theory of Moral Sentiments. Ultimately, Tocqueville’s reflections on American democracy extended beyond the US, offering insights into the challenges that modern democracies worldwide would face, including balancing liberty with equality, protecting minority views, and fostering civic engagement in the face of economic and social changes. Today in 2024, in the biggest election year in history, Tocqueville’s analysis still offers timeless exploration of democracy’s promises and pitfalls, and gives us deep insights on the needed grounds to sustain the democratic project truthfully and live.
[Image by tom coe from Unsplash]
Harvard PhD, Full Professor of Sociology at the University of Barcelona, and Vicepresident of the International Sociological Association.