Political Science

Democracy in America is a general study on the democratic institutions of the United States in the early part of the 19th century. It is, perhaps, considered, as one of the foremost authoritative critique on American democracy. Some scholars considered the work as the foundation of economic sociology and political economy.

Background
In 1831, the French government sent Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont to study the American prison system. Arriving in New York City in May of the same year, the two spent nine months traveling in the United States. They took notes not only on prisons but on almost all aspects of the American polity. In February 1832, the two returned to France and submitted their report. In 1835, the first volume of the work was published. The book exposed the misgivings, weaknesses, strengths, and dangers of American democracy. When it was read in the United States, politicians and statesmen alike were struck by the relative accuracy of the report.

Concepts, Applications, and General Critique
Tocqueville observed that American society is characterized by general equality of conditions which means lack of clearly delineated social class, relatively even distribution of wealth and parity of citizenship. As Tocqueville noted this primary fact exercises on the whole course of society, by giving a certain direction to public opinion, and a certain tenor to the laws by imparting new maxims to the governing powers, and peculiar habits to the governed. I speedily perceived that the influence of this fact extends far beyond the political character and the laws of the country, and that it has no less empire over civil society than over the Government it creates opinions, engenders sentiments, suggests the ordinary practices of life, and modifies whatever it does not produce. The more I advanced in the study of American society, the more I perceived that the equality of conditions is the fundamental fact from which all others seem to be derived, and the central point at which all my observations constantly terminated (1).

For Tocqueville, general equality of conditions is the epitome of modern democracy. The evolution of the state is marked by a constant drive towards equality and stability. The state and all its constitutive parts are driven towards self realization. This realization is based on the idea that privilege and heredity are but means to perpetuate economic and political inequality. Tocqueville continued
The different relations of men became more complicated and more numerous as society gradually became more stable and more civilized. Thence the want of civil laws was felt and the order of legal functionaries soon rose from the obscurity of the tribunals and their dusty chambers, to appear at the court of the monarch, by the side of the feudal barons in their ermine and their mail. Whilst the kings were ruining themselves by their great enterprises, and the nobles exhausting their resources by private wars, the lower orders were enriching themselves by commerce. The influence of money began to be perceptible in State affairs (2).

From a historical perspective, however, it is clear that the American society is marked by increasing inequality. What are the forms of inequality There was regional inequality between Northern States and Southern States. The North was relatively more prosperous than the South. The industries of the North had no need for slave labor in order to perpetuate. In contrast, the South needed slave labor to operate its large plantations. The North had also a larger income base, derived primarily from the production of capital and intermediate products. There was also class inequality. Plantation owners had an aggregate income equal to one-eighth of the nations income. Industrialists controlled about two-thirds of the nations capital. The poor, slaves, and urban middle class controlled roughly one-fourth of the countrys wealth.

However, it is illogical to assume that Tocquevilles concept has no direct significance. It is an ideal type, meaning it can be used to measure social and political inequalities within a state. In short, it is not an actual depiction of reality, but a measure of social dynamics.

Perhaps, one of Tocquevilles most famous concepts is the tyranny of the majority construct. In simple terms, tyranny of the majority refers to a condition wherein the decisions of the state are made by a majority under a system that would place that majoritys interests above a dissenting minority interest. In this system, the actions of the majority are synonymous with that of tyrants and despots. As Tocqueville rightly observed

A majority taken collectively may be regarded as a being whose opinions, and most frequently whose interests, are opposed to those of another being, which is styled a minority. If it be admitted that a man, possessing absolute power, may misuse that power by wronging his adversaries, why should a majority not be liable to the same reproach Men are not apt to change their characters by agglomeration nor does their patience in the presence of obstacles increase with the consciousness of their strength. And for these reasons I can never willingly invest any number of my fellow-creatures with that unlimited authority which I should refuse to any one of them (133).

Tocqueville argued that the American political system is not immune to this condition. He observed that in most state legislatures, the interests of the majority, however, unnecessary or irrational, are transformed into public policies. The electoral system, according to Tocqueville, is also used to perpetuate the interests of the majority. The elected officials succumbed to the will of the majority because of the derived mandate. Elected officials derive their legitimacy or mandate to govern from the people. It follows that elected officials must follow the will of the majority. As Tocqueville argued

When an individual or a party is wronged in the United States, to whom can he apply for redress If to public opinion, public opinion constitutes the majority if to the legislature, it represents the majority, and implicitly obeys its injunctions if to the executive power, it is appointed by the majority, and remains a passive tool in its hands the public troops consist of the majority under arms the jury is the majority invested with the right of hearing judicial cases and in certain States even the judges are elected by the majority. However iniquitous or absurd the evil of which you complain may be, you must submit to it as well as you can (135).

The phrase tyranny of the majority is a general motif in the study of politics and statecraft. Indeed, Tocquevilles concept is often used as an analytical framework in studying political dynamics and group behavior. In a broad sense, the political spectrum may be viewed as a matrix of opposing or complementary interests. In a narrow sense, it can be viewed as a continuum of interests. In any case, Tocquevilles concept of the tyranny of the majority is not just an ideal type it is both a theoretical and practical framework of analysis.

Tocqueville also developed his own idea of enlightened self-interest. According to him, persons who act for the common good will ultimately serve their own good. In the American polity, an American with a sense of enlightened self interest is a person who values social good while at the same time expects something good from political action. Again, Tocqueville observed

The Americans, on the other hand, are fond of explaining almost all the actions of their lives by the principle of self-interest rightly understood they show with complacency how an enlightened regard for themselves constantly prompts them to assist one another and inclines them willingly to sacrifice a portion of their time and property to the welfare of the state. In this respect I think they frequently fail to do themselves justice, for in the United States as well as elsewhere people are sometimes seen to give way to those disinterested and spontaneous impulses that are natural to man but the Americans seldom admit that they yield to emotions of this kind they are more anxious to do honor to their philosophy than to themselves (Book VIII, 172).

Tocquevilles concept of enlightened self-interest has had become the foundation of modern political ethics. This concept can be used to analyze a wide range of political behaviors (from the perspective of ethics). However, few political scientists use this concept to explain aggregate behavior.

Conclusion
Democracy in America is not only an analytical discussion of the nature of the American polity it is also, in a sense, a general scientific inquiry on the dynamics of American democracy. Indeed, much of the concepts used in the book are still in use today.