Sammi Meszaros
History 1000
February 27, 2012
Democracy: the good, the bad, and the ugly
In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville contends that equality produces positive
and negative effects because he asserts that equality contributed to citizens working together;
however, equality results in a loss of individualism.The average American citizen has opposing
wants: “…they feel the need to be lead and the desire to remain free.” (de Tocqueville, 165)1
These opposing wants led to neither a democracy that is not entirely positive nor negative.
Positive effects of democracy are voluntary association, higher morality, and new inheritance
laws. Nevertheless, the negative effects are loss of individualism, a new form of despotism, and
the arts becoming average. Also, de Tocqueville discusses his ideas on “equality of condition”
and “the tyranny of the majority.” De Tocqueville demonstrates how those two ideas conflict and
support each other.
One benefit of democracy is that it creates an environment where people must work
together. The America people will produce voluntary associations in order to fight for their
common beliefs. These voluntary associations are necessary in order to “…replace the powerful
individual eliminated by equality.” (de Tocqueville, 119) Unlike in aristocratic countries,
democracy made everyone’s voices equal; therefore, the people were forced to work together to
ensure their voices were heard over the rest of the population. For example, Tocqueville stated
that “unless they [Americans] learn to cooperate freely, they are helpless.” (de Tocqueville, 117)
These associations are a positive effect of democracy because they not only made “Americans of
all ages and stations, all points of view, meet constantly,” they also were the only way things
would be accomplished. (de Tocqueville, 116) For instance, Tocqueville could not believe that
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Alex de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, (Boston/New York: Bedford – St. Martins, 2009).
one hundred thousand men agreed not to drink hard liquor. However, after observing the
voluntary associations he realized that Americans do not need a leader to tell them what is best.
Americans are able to work together to reach a solution for their common fears or concerns.
An additional positive effect of democracy is the high level of morality that exists in
America. The high morality in American marriages is caused by social equality. De Tocqueville
believes that the social equality that allows for a choice in a mate is necessary for a marriage to
be happy and faithful. He considers the cause on an unfaithful marriage to be “…on the
experience of living in a society that does not permit… [a] choice” in a spouse. (de Tocqueville,
147) In many aristocratic societies, marriages are arranged when the couple are still children
versus democratic societies where the couple chooses each other in young adulthood. When a
couple does not enter a marriage in love this will most likely lead to immoral decisions. Also,
democracy leads to higher morals among young women when they are choosing a husband. De
Tocqueville points out that the choice a woman makes is an educated choice because “…their
minds have first been opened through education and their wills strengthened enough to make
such a choice…” (de Tocqueville, 147) In aristocratic societies where young women are not
given any freedoms nor education, they will marry the first man they meet in order to escape
their parents. This poor judgment will lead to an unhappy marriage, which will result in poor
moral decisions. The freedoms that a democratic society allows young couples, especially young
women, to have will lead to higher morals within a society.
The final positive effect is the equality caused by the democratic laws of inheritance. The
laws of inheritance in aristocratic societies give the entire land to the oldest child. However, in
democratic societies the land is divided equally among all the children. This allows for a more
equal division of land among all citizens because the land will continue to become smaller and
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smaller as time passes. Also, the land will become available to citizens outside the family
because once “…the sentimental value, memory, pride, and the ambition to preserve the land…”
are removed “…there is a strong financial incentive to sell…” (de Tocqueville, 49) This new
law prevents powerful large land owners from reappearing because no one is able to inherent
large amounts of land. It also, helps the economy because a “…small landowner earns a greater
profit from his field…” (de Tocqueville, 49) The positive effect of the laws of inheritance allow
for more equality among American citizens.
While democracy has many positive effects, there are also many negative effects. The
biggest negative effect of democracy is the potential loss of individualism. De Tocqueville states
that “the spectacle of universal uniformity saddens and chills me…” (de Tocqueville, 168) All
American citizens slowly become the same because democracy does not allow for any type of
extremes. Therefore, things in America are pushed to the middle. A few examples are there are
less extremely wealthy families but everyone is wealthier. Fewer men are highly educated but a
basic education is available to more citizens. De Tocqueville sums up this effect of democracy as
“almost all extremes are blunted; whatever stands out is pared down and replaced by something
average…” (de Tocqueville, 168) By democracy making everything average it leads to people
becoming the same because they are not able to keep their unique spirit. The boring, average life
that democracy creates does not allow for individualism.
In addition to a loss of individualism, democracy may create a new type of despotism.
This type of despotism will be much more controlling than the types in aristocratic nations. In
aristocratic nations it is impossible to have complete power over the entire population. As de
Tocqueville explains, “…it [tyrannical power] did not reach the lives of most people; it was
concerned with certain major undertakings and neglected the rest; it was brutal, and limited.” (de
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Tocqueville, 163) One would think that an emperor would have complete control over his
country; however, he only appears to have great power. The emperor does not affect the details
of people’s lives. However, in democratic countries despotism “…would be milder but more far
reaching, and it would not torment men but degrade them.” (de Tocqueville, 163) Despotism in
democratic countries would have more affect because it influences the personal lives of its
citizens. Also, despotism will degrade its citizens because the leader will become “…an all –
powerful father figure…” (de Tocqueville, 164) By the leader becoming a protector and
controlling the lives of his people, he will “…remove the need for them to think at all, or deal
with any of life’s problems.” (de Tocqueville, 164) This is a dangerous effect of democracy
because it creates an environment where citizens do not think.
Democracy has taken the arts from highest quality to highest quantity. The arts have
moved from quality to quantity because artists have succumbed to “…the will of the
consumer…” (de Tocqueville, 102) In aristocratic societies, the artist has to maintain a high
reputation because only a few people are able to become artist. However, equality has allowed
anyone to become an artist. Therefore, equality has contributed to the arts becoming more
mediocre because the increase in artists has lowered the standards for the extremely talented. In
addition, artists must become less concerned with the quality and become more concerned with
making a large quantity for a little as possible. Thus, “men produce little that is perfect, but they
produce more.” (de Tocqueville, 168) In order to survive economically in a democracy, an artist
must make what the consumer wants as inexpensively as he can.
Two major ideas discussed throughout Democracy in America are the “equality of
condition” and “the tyranny of the majority.” It was the “equality of condition” that was “…the
most striking…” characteristic of America during de Tocqueville’s visit. (de Tocqueville, 37) In
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America, equality has not only penetrated political life but also the civil lives of the citizens. It
has become so ingrained in the population that de Tocqueville observed that it is “…the central
point to which all my observations returned.” (de Tocqueville, 37) The second idea of “the
tyranny of the majority” had a strong effect on de Tocqueville as well. In aristocratic countries
few individuals had power. However, in democratic countries individuals must group together in
order to have power. Therefore, in America it is the majority that has the power. “The tyranny of
the majority” is both conflicted and supported by the “equality of condition.”
The “tyranny of the majority” conflicts with the idea of “equality of condition” because
the majority does not allow for total equality. The majority prevents equality because “…once
the majority has formed its opinion on any question, nothing can stop it or even block it long
enough to allow time for the arguments of those who are crushed in the process to be heard.” (de
Tocqueville, 71) This does not allow for equality because if people disagree with the majority
their ideas will not be heard nor considered. The majority is worse than an emperor because an
emperor can only inflict physical pain on the minority; whereas, “…the majority… is invested
with both physical and moral authority…” (de Tocqueville, 76) The individual will become an
outcast if he should go against the majority. Therefore, “the tyranny of the majority” conflicts
with “equality of conditions” because it does not allow for complete equality among all citizens.
However, the “equality of condition” supports the idea of “the tyranny of the majority”
because the majority would not exist if there was no equality. Equality creates the necessity of
the majority because in a democracy individuals are powerless. Therefore, citizens must group
together in order to accomplish their goals. In an aristocratic society, only a few are in charge
because there is no equality. However, in America equality allows for anyone to come into
power. Many believe it is necessary to have a majority because it supports the “…moral
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superiority…” idea (de Tocqueville, 70) De Tocqueville states that “the moral superiority of the
majority is based in part on the idea that there is more wisdom and talent in an assembly of men
than in a single individual…” (de Tocqueville, 70) Equality permits any man to become a leader;
therefore, it is necessary that the majority supports him because a group of people is believed to
be more intelligent than a single individual.
De Tocqueville discusses the ideas of “conditions of equality” and “the tyranny of the
majority” throughout Democracy in America. De Tocqueville demonstrates how these two
different ideas conflict and supports each other. Also, democracy supports and conflicts the
personal lives of every American citizen. The reason for the positive and negative effects of
democracy is the conflicting needs of the people. De Tocqueville states that the American
population “… feel[s] the need to be led and the desire to remain free.” (de Tocqueville, 165)
De Tocqueville claims that equality creates an environment with many positive and negative
effects because Democracy in America emphasize that equality led to the creation of voluntary
associations, yet a consequence of equality is a loss of individualism.
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