Problems and Solutions of Democracy in Tocqueville’s America

The object of this paper is to discuss how Tocqueville, in Democracy in America, construes the problems and solutions of democracy.  The first section will consider the problems of democracy he identified and their causes.  The second and final section will consider Tocqueville’s solutions to those problems. 

What are the problems of democracy?

According to Tocqueville, the problems of democracy are two-fold.  The first problem is the tyranny of the majority and the second problem is that of American individualism.  The next paragraph will focus on the first of these problems, with the following focusing on the problem of individualism. 

Tyranny of the majority refers to situations where a majority places its interests above those of both a minority and the individual.  It is particularly inimical in the US case because the majority uses its control of the democratic process to heap penalties on specific groups it doesn’t favor. This type of democratically endorsed subjugation can be considered as analogous to the tyranny perpetrated by authoritarian rulers or despots in other political contexts.  A related problem is what Tocqueville describes as a type of “soft despotism.”  He characterizes the US political system as one in which voters validate particular parties or administrations every four years.  These administrations then wield tremendous power over its citizens.  But American voters are otherwise passive about their government’s activities in between elections.  Indeed the government itself reinforces the passivity of the people. 

By individualism, Tocqueville refers to a problem he considered potentially democracy’s greatest threat.  He describes individualism as a scenario where citizens focus exclusively on their own personal and family interests.  He simultaneously withdraws from participation in the larger body politic. Under this context, citizens become isolated from one another and unable to resist the urges of a democratic despotism expressed through the tyranny of the majority.  He describes this type of individualism as selfishness wrongly understood.

What are the solutions of democracy?

Tocqueville’s prescription for the problem of the tyranny of the majority is two-fold, involving justice and by imposing limits on majority rule. It is notable that the US political system’s checks and balances and divided powers institutions didn’t strike him as enough to solve this particular problem of democracy.  

Tocqueville’s solution to the problem of individualism is what he refers to as selfishness rightly understood.  By this he means a selfishness which teaches citizens about their proper role in society and how this role can enhance one’s own self-interest.  He describes this principle of self-interest as producing “no great acts of self-sacrifice, but it suggests daily small acts of self-denial… (Chapter 8).”

In a broader sense this principle challenges citizens to participate in the larger social order and demonstrate this participation by membership in voluntary associations or civil society organizations.  These are institutional contexts where citizens come to understand the value of participating in a group.  More specifically, this participation was expressed in membership in such public affairs oriented organizations as townships and juries and the before mentioned associations.

In townships, Tocqueville saw a place where public affairs are brought to the reach of individuals in the same sense that science is brought down to the common man in primary education.  Townships provide direct access to public affairs to the individual citizen.  This is both more accessible and more involving than the far away national government.  Townships are also a place where participation in public affairs can be developed. This participation entails co-operating with others for the advantage of both oneself and one’s immediate neighbors. To quote Tocqueville, “his co-operation in its affairs ensures his attachment to its interest; the well-being it affords him secures his affection; and its welfare is the aim of his ambition and of his future exertions: he takes a part in every occurrence in the place; he practices the art of government in the small sphere within his reach (Chapter 5).”

Tocqueville argued that jury trials are another important public forum where citizens participate in the affairs of their community.  By juries he meant juries in civil cases.  In civil cases citizens learn to pass judgment on their peers and neighbors.  As seen in the film 12 Angry Men, jury trials impart the practice of deliberation to citizens.  They also demonstrate the practical application of law and government in everyday experience.  The application of these tools has useful purposes in daily life. It can enhance the productive capacities of both political and civil organizations. Thus participation is rightly seen by Tocqueville as a critical prerequisite to a properly functioning democracy.  

The final public affairs type of organization with a practical application to a working democracy is the associations.  Such organizations are important in warding off an encroaching democratic tyranny.  Tocqueville contrasts the US democracy with traditional European societies with still functioning aristocracies.  He notes that aristocracies act as “the head of a permanent and compulsory association (Chapter 5).”  However, in democracies citizens must cooperate to achieve larger ends and must learn the benefits of such cooperation. 

Work Cited

De Toqueville, Alexis. “Democracy in America.” Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org.