Democracy in America

Tocqueville begins with the qualification that while America is undeniably democratic, he is far from certain American laws should be adopted universally. He notes that “laws of democracy generally tend to the good of the greatest number […] the object of democracy in its legislation is more useful to humanity than is the object of aristocracy in its” (221).

Overall, however, Tocqueville considers aristocrats superior legislators, since, “it [aristocracy] knows the art of making the collective force of all its laws converge at the same time toward the same point” (222). In contrast, democracy depends on its ability to make “repairable mistakes” and on a shared interest between officials and citizens (222). This prevents officials from “impressing an exclusive and dangerous style on the government” (223). Public officials have “no class interest to make prevail” (224), which means that their government is overall better for the population. Tocqueville may be more sympathetic to the greater skills of aristocratic individuals, but he considers their results overall less successful. He also notes that popular participation increases patriotism among Americans, which may be crucial for European nations seeking to get support of their populations.