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Pros And Cons Of Democracy Tocqueville

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Alexis de Tocqueville penned Democracy in America after he spent month America in the 1831, where he witnessed a new democratic system. He found it’s concepts to have unique strengths and weaknesses that he believed could be the inspiration for the new government of post-revolution France. The concepts of limiting individualism, encouraging positive associations, and moderating the tyranny of the majority that Tocqueville observed during his trip in America helped maintain the new democratic republic built after the revolution. As soon as America became free from British rule, their groundwork for their new government helped cement them as a true democracy since it contended with individualism. Tocqueville noticed that after a successful …show more content…

Tocqueville feared that in a democracy the people would assume that the truth always lies with the majority, since individuals are prone to trust public opinion over the ideas of the minority, crumbling citizens’ ability to question their government 's authority and to think for themselves. The dangers of unchecked and unlimited power in America’s centralized government would become the majority and lead to the absolute tyranny. However, while the government is centralized, its sphere of influence is limited because of the decentralized administration. American is able to moderate the political tyranny of the majority through the checks and balances in the three branch system of government made by the decentralized administration, but must take caution of a social tyranny of the majority being …show more content…

Today, we still see Tocqueville’s practices being relevant through the new technologies available and it’s interaction with the political and social spheres of America. As the mainstream usage of the internet and social media has steadily increased, it has become easier for people to revolutionize the concepts found in Democracy in America. Where before associations were only made locally or through newspapers, there is now the possibility for American citizen to make fast, instant associations across the world. With social spheres widening, the minority is capable of garnering influence and has the ability speak out against the majority more than ever before through. Although older generations have critiqued social media by saying that it is isolating younger people, individualism as Tocqueville perceived it is extremely limited since there is the exchange of new thoughts and people can common goals to fight for such as the recent DAPL protest which gained traction and success through social media. Since there are so few regulations for the internet, the freedom it allows one to see Tocqueville 's concepts for democracy in a purer form in not just America, but throughout the world.
Tocqueville envisioned that his country would flourish under the democratic concepts he observed while in America. However, he considered the delicate balance each of the concepts had, knowing that if one restricted or left unrestrained, it would harm the nation. In this new technology reliant

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