2/29/2016 'DemocracyinAmerica'anOverviewoftheBook

About.com AboutEducation Sociology MajorSociologicalWorks

Democracy in America
AnOverviewoftheBookbyAlexisdeTocqueville

ByAshleyCrossman

UpdatedNovember25,2014.

Search...
DemocracyinAmerica,writtenbyAlexisdeTocquevillebetween1835and
1840,isconsideredoneofthemostcomprehensiveandinsightfulbooks
Democracyin WhoWasAlexisde
1 2 Tocqueville? 3 HarrietMartineau 4 SystemicRacism
AmericaeverwrittenabouttheU.S.Havingseenthefailedattemptsatademocratic
5 AnthonyGiddens
governmentinhisnativeFrance,Tocquevillesetouttostudyastableand
prosperousdemocracyinordertogaininsightintohowitworked.
DemocracyinAmericaistheresultofhisstudies.Thebookwas,andstill
remains,sopopularbecauseitdealswithissuessuchasreligion,thepress,
money,classstructure,racism,theroleofgovernment,andthejudicial
systemissuesthatarejustasrelevanttodayastheywerethen.Agreat
dealofcollegesintheU.S.continuetouseDemocracyinAmericain
politicalscienceandhistorycourses.
TherearetwovolumestoDemocracyinAmerica.Volumeonewas Sign Up for Our
publishedin1835andismoreoptimisticofthetwo.Itfocusesmainlyonthe
Free Newsletters
structureofgovernmentandtheinstitutionsthathelpmaintainfreedomin AboutToday
theUnitedStates.
LivingHealthy
Volumetwo,publishedin1840,focusesmoreonindividualsandtheeffects Sociology
thatthedemocraticmentalityhasonthenormsandthoughtsthatexistin
Enteryouremail SIGNUP
society.

TocquevillesmainpurposeinwritingDemocracyinAmericawastoanalyze
thefunctioningofpoliticalsocietyandthevariousformsofpolitical
associations,althoughhealsohadsomereflectionsoncivilsocietyaswell SOCIOLOGY CATEGORIES
astherelationsbetweenpoliticalandcivilsociety.Heultimatelysoughtto
Sociology101:TheBasics
understandthetruenatureofAmericanpoliticallifeandwhyitwasso
ResearchandMethodology
differentfromEurope.
SubfieldsofSociology
TopicsCovered ProfilesofMajorSociologists
MajorSociologicalWorks
DemocracyinAmericacoversavastarrayoftopics.
SociologicalTheory

InVolumeI,Tocquevillediscussesthingssuchas:thesocialconditionof SociologyDictionary:SociologicalTerms
fromAtoZ
AngloAmericansjudicialpowerintheUnitedStatesanditsinfluenceon
CurrentEventsinSociologicalContext
politicalsocietytheUnitedStatesConstitutionfreedomofpresspolitical
associationstheadvantagesofademocraticgovernmentthe SoundBites:ResearchIntheNews

consequencesofdemocracyandthefutureoftheracesintheUnited AskaSociologist
States. AcademicResourcesforSociology
Students
InVolumeIIofthebook,Tocquevillecoverstopicssuchas:Howreligionin CareersinSociology
theUnitedStatesavailsitselftodemocratictendenciesRomanCatholicism Statistics
intheUnitedStatespantheismequalityandtheperfectibilityofman Blog
http://sociology.about.com/od/Works/a/DemocracyinAmerica.htm 1/4
2/29/2016 'DemocracyinAmerica'anOverviewoftheBook

scienceliteraturearthowdemocracyhasmodifiedtheEnglishlanguage KeyConceptsfromSocialTheorists
spiritualfanaticismeducationandequalityofthesexes. KeySociologicalTerms
UpdatedArticlesandResources
FeaturesofAmericanDemocracy

TocquevillesstudiesofdemocracyintheUnitedStatesledhimtothe
conclusionthatAmericansocietyischaracterizedbyfivekeyfeatures:

1.Loveofequality:Americansloveequalityevenmorethanwelove
individuallibertyorfreedom(Volume2,Part2,Chapter1).

2.Absenceoftradition:Americansinhabitalandscapelargelywithout
inheritedinstitutionsandtraditions(family,class,religion)thatdefinetheir
relationstooneanother(Volume2,Part1,Chapter1).

3.Individualism:Becausenopersonisintrinsicallybetterthananother,
Americansbegintoseekallreasonsinthemselves,lookingnottotradition
nortothewisdomofsingularindividuals,buttotheirownopinionfor
guidance(Volume2,Part2,Chapter2).

4.Tyrannyofthemajority:Atthesametime,Americansgivegreatweight
to,andfeelgreatpressurefrom,theopinionofthemajority.Precisely
becausetheyareallequal,theyfeelinsignificantandweakincontrasttothe
greaternumber(Volume1,Part2,Chapter7).

5.Importanceoffreeassociation:Americanshaveahappyimpulsetowork
togethertoimprovetheircommonlife,mostobviouslybyformingvoluntary
associations.ThisuniquelyAmericanartofassociationtemperstheir
tendenciestowardsindividualismandgivesthemahabitandtastefor
servingothers(Volume2,Part2,Chapters4and5).

PredictionsforAmerica

Tocquevilleisoftenacclaimedformakinganumberofcorrectpredictionsin
DemocracyinAmerica.First,heanticipatedthatthedebateoverthe
abolitionofslaverycouldpotentiallytearaparttheUnitedStates,whichitdid
duringtheAmericanCivilWar.Second,hepredictedthattheUnitedStates
andRussiawouldriseasrivalsuperpowers,andtheydidafterWorldWarII.
SomescholarsalsoarguethatTocqueville,inhisdiscussionoftheriseof
theindustrialsectorintheAmericaneconomy,correctlypredictedthatan
industrialaristocracywouldrisefromtheownershipoflabor.Inthebook,he
warnedthatfriendsofdemocracymustkeepananxiouseyepeeledinthis
directionatalltimesandwentontosaythatanewfoundwealthyclass
maypotentiallydominatesociety.

AccordingtoTocqueville,democracywouldalsohavesomeunfavorable
consequences,includingthetyrannyofthemajorityoverthought,a
preoccupationwithmaterialgoods,andisolatingindividualsfromeachother
andsociety.

References
Tocqueville,DemocracyinAmerica(HarveyMansfieldandDelbaWinthrop,trans.,ed.Chicago:
UniversityofChicagoPress,2000)

Related
WhoWasAlexisdeTocqueville?
PhilosophicalQuotesonEquality
Plato'sRepublic,BookVIIISummary
17SociologyStudiesYouShouldKnowAbout
http://sociology.about.com/od/Works/a/DemocracyinAmerica.htm 2/4
2/29/2016 'DemocracyinAmerica'anOverviewoftheBook

About.com AboutEducation Sociology ProfilesofMajorSociologists

Who Was Alexis de Tocqueville?

ABriefBioandIntellectualHistory

ByAshleyCrossman

UpdatedJanuary26,2016.

Overview

AlexisCharlesHenriClrelde
TocquevillewasaFrenchlegaland
politicalscholar,politician,andhistorian
whoismostwellknownastheauthorof
thebookDemocracyinAmerica,
publishedintwovolumesin1835and
1840.Thoughnotasociologistbytraining
ortrade,Tocquevilleisrecognizedasone
ofthethinkersthatinspiredthediscipline
duetohisfocusonsocialobservation,his
knackforsituatingcurrenteventsin
HultonArchive/GettyImages
historicalcontext(nowconsidereda
cornerstoneofthesociological
imagination),andhisinterestinthecausesofcertainsocialpatternsand
trends,andofdifferencesamongsocieties.Inallofhisworks,Tocquevilles
interestsliedinthepositiveandnegativeconsequencesofvariousformsof
democracyonvariousaspectsofsociallife,fromeconomicsandlaw,to
religionandart.

BiographyandIntellectualHistory

AlexisdeTocquevillewasbornonJuly29,1805inParis,France.Hewas
thegreatgrandsonofthestatesmanChretienGuillaumedeLamoignonde
Malesherbes,aliberalaristocraticvictimoftheFrenchRevolutionanda
politicalmodelforTocqueville.

Hewaseducatedbyaprivatetutoruntilhighschoolandthenattendedhigh
schoolandcollegeinMetz,France.HestudiedlawinParisandworkedas
asubstitutejudgeinVersailles.

In1831,TocquevilleandGustavedeBeaumont,afriendandcolleague,
traveledtotheUnitedStatestostudyprisonreforms,andspentninemonths
inthecountry.TheyhopedtoreturntoFrancewithknowledgeofasociety
thatwouldmakethemfittohelpshapeFrancespoliticalfuture.

Thetripproducedthetheirfirstjointbookpublishedbythetwo,Onthe
PenitentiarySystemintheUnitedStatesanditsApplicationinFrance,as
wellasthefirstpartofTocquevillesDemocracyinAmerica.

Tocquevillespentthenextfouryearsworkingonthefinalportion
ofDemocracyinAmerica,whichwaspublishedin1840.Largelyduetothe

http://sociology.about.com/od/Works/a/DemocracyinAmerica.htm 3/4
2/29/2016 'DemocracyinAmerica'anOverviewoftheBook

successofthebook,TocquevillewasnamedtotheLegionofHonor,the
AcademyofMoralandPoliticalSciences,andtheFrenchAcademy.The
bookwasandremainssopopularbecauseitdealswithissuessuchas
religion,thepress,money,classstructure,racism,theroleofgovernment,
andthejudicialsystemissuesthatarejustasrelevanttodayastheywere
then.

AgreatdealofcollegesintheU.S.useDemocracyinAmericainpolitical
science,history,andsociologycourses,andhistoriansconsideritoneofthe
mostcomprehensiveandinsightfulbookseverwrittenabouttheU.S.

Later,TocquevilletouredEngland,whichinspiredthebook,Memoiron
Pauperism.AnotherbookTravailsurlAlgerie,waswrittenafterTocqueville
spenttimeinAlgeriain1841and1846.Duringthistimehedevelopeda
critiqueofassimilationistmodelFrenchcolonialism,whichhesharedinthe
book.

In1848TocquevillebecameanelectedmemberoftheConstituent
Assembly,andservedontheCommissionresponsibleforcreatingthenew
ConstitutionoftheSecondRepublic.

Then,In1849,hebecameFrance'sMinisterofForeignAffairs.Thenext
yearPresidentLouisNapoleonBonaparteremovedhimfromhispost,after
whichTocquevillebecamequiteill.In1851hewasimprisonedforopposing
Bonapartescoupandwasbarredfromholdingfurtherpoliticaloffices.
TocquevillethenretreatedtoprivatelifeandwroteLAncienRegimeetla
Revolution.Thefirstvolumeofthebookwaspublishedin1856,but
Tocquevillewasunabletocompletethesecondbeforehediedof
tuberculosisin1859.

MajorPublications

TheU.S.PenitentiarySystemanditsApplicationinFrance(1833)

DemocracyinAmerica(18351840)

TheOldRegimeandtheRevolution(1856)

Recollections(1893)

Related
DemocracyinAmerica
17SociologyStudiesYouShouldKnowAbout
20ProfilesoftheMostFamousSociologistsinHistory
PhilosophicalQuotesonEquality

AboutEducation Followus: We deliver. Get the best of OurStory WriteforAbout

About Education in your inbox. AdvertiseWithUs CareersatAbout

SiteMap TermsofUse&
Enteryouremail SIGNUP
Policies
Help

2016About.comAllrightsreserved.

http://sociology.about.com/od/Works/a/DemocracyinAmerica.htm 4/4