Alexis de Tocqueville

Democracy in America

1. IDEA 1

   Equality was reshaping the world

   Tocqueville, a French aristocrat who travelled through the United States in the 1830s, argues that equality of conditions was the defining feature of American society. He believed this trend would spread across the world.

2. IDEA 2

   Majorities can become tyrants

   Tocqueville warns of the tyranny of the majority, the danger that democratic majorities may crush minority views. Social pressure, he argues, can silence people as effectively as laws. In his view, fear of standing alone can push people into silence.

3. IDEA 3

   Americans formed associations

   Tocqueville admired how Americans constantly formed voluntary associations to solve problems. These groups, he argues, taught citizens to cooperate. In his view, joining together in small groups gives ordinary people a way to act beyond their own homes.

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