Alexis De Tocqueville: A Social Analysis

The strength of any society is at its heart how well they in the (community) all work or collaborate together to resolve issue and more foreword in economic prosperity. It may not be seamless however it’s all types of individuals all ages and both genders that make up not only communities but a civil society with many interconnecting values and desirers. In the 1830s Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States see firsthand the experiment in democracy; “t was the Americans ' propensity for civic association that most impressed him as the key to their unprecedented ability to make democracy work.”Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of disposition," he observed, "are forever forming associations. There are not only commercial

“Although all these regional governments seemed identical on paper, their levels of effectiveness varied dramatically. Systematic inquiry showed that the quality of governance was determined by longstanding traditions of civic engagement (or its absence). Voter turnout, newspaper readership, membership in choral societies and football clubs - these were the hallmarks of a successful region. In fact, historical analysis suggested that these networks of organized reciprocity and civic solidarity, far from being an epiphenomenon of socioeconomic modernization, were a precondition for it (Putnam, pg 2)”.The networks and organizations and collaborations of civic engagement where what fostered the great society in the building of this nation. It started at the level of the individual then to the small group and further into the next large group and or groups which turned into networks and organizations that saw benefit in working together than apart it is probably the main reason this type of government succeed in the early days of the

Some could point to a political change (participation) or a disenfranchisement with party politics? But also a lack of participation in local politics either “A series of identical questions posed by the Roper Organization to national samples ten times each year over the last two decades reveals that since 1973 the number of Americans who report that "in the past year" they have "attended a public meeting on town or school affairs" has fallen by more than a third (from 22 percent in 1973 to 13 percent in 1993). Similar (or even greater) relative declines are evident in responses to questions about attending a political rally or speech, serving on a committee of some local organization, and working for a political party. By almost every measure, Americans ' direct engagement in politics and government has fallen steadily and sharply over the last generation, despite the fact that average levels of education - the best individual-level predictor of political participation - have risen sharply throughout this period (Putnam, pg 3)”. Other issues that degrade civic engagement are the mobility of the individual an example would be family travels on weekends to camps and other places of recreation not connections during these times with region, neighborhood and or social organizations of the community. Moreover, technology tweeter, Facebook, the internet, and finally television all have made our community