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Chapter 6a. What Are the Real Advantages That American Society Gains from the Government of Democracy?
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375 s4s4s4s4s4 c h a p t e r 6a What Are the Real Advantages That American Society Gains from the Government of Democracy? [Before beginning this chapter I feel the need to explain myself. I do not want my thought enclosed within limits that I have not set. When I speak generally about the advantages of {that a country can gain from} the government of democracy, I am not talking only about the government that democracy has provided for itself in America, but about all types of government that emanate from democracy. Every time that the government of a people is thesincereandpermanent a. Édouard de Tocqueville: I criticize this whole chapter for being very favorable to thegovernmentof democracy at the expense of other governments. It seems to me that America is too young, that its society is too new and, you could even say, still too incomplete to draw arguments so positivelyadvantageoustothegovernmentthatitisattempting;itcannotbedenied that the basis of your thought in this chapter seems to be sympathetic to American institutions; now, it would be unfortunate if someone were to believe that you came back from America American, following the usual inclinationof men,andof Frenchmen above all, who greatly admire what they go to seek far away, while deprecating what is found at home. So I believe it would perhaps be good to show democratic government a little less favorably and make a bit more use of the dubitative form, perhaps to be a bit more severe as well about the bad things and the vicious aspects of this government, which would make your impartiality emerge more fully; finally, remove all the expressions that seem like those of a young man and that do not constitute true warmth of style (YTC, CIIIb, 1, pp. 101–2). 376 advantages of democracy expression of the will of the greatest number, that government, whatever the forms, is democratic.b So democracy can rule over a unified nation as over a confederation, in a monarchy as in a republic. I admit that of all governments the one that seems to me most natural to democracy is republican government. When the social state of a people turns toward democracy, the republic becomes for them a probable consequence of this social state; but I do not believe that it is a necessary consequence. If the majority of all the citizens do violence to the instincts of equality that are natural to them and, favoring order and governmental stability, consent to vest the attributes of executive power in a family or a man who, while still leading, depends on them, there is nothing in that that shocks reason. So the rule of all and the government [v: the administration] of one man can be seen at the same time. I confess that this much reduces royal majesty, but the time is coming when, if kings do not want to take the places left [v: still offered] to them, they will nolongerfindanytotake.]c Before beginning the present chapter, Ifeel theneedtoremindthereader of what I have already pointed out several times in the course of this book. The political constitution of the United States seems to me one of the forms that democracy can give to its government; but I do not consider American institutions as either the only or the best that ademocraticpeople should adopt. So by making known what good things the Americans gain from the government of democracy, I am far from claiming or thinking that such advantages can only be obtained with the help of the same laws. b. To the side: “To retouch all of this small chapter. According to L[ouis (ed.)], my purpose is not seen clearly enough. One doesn’t know if this isn’t a carefully phrased remark in favor of despotism or of L[ouis (ed.)]. P[hilippe (ed.)].” c. This fragment also appears in YTC, CVh, 3, pp. 38–39, accompanied (p. 38) by the following comment in the margin: “All of this preamble seems to me of questionable utility, because the thought that led to writing it does not emerge clearly. As I am going to say things favorable to democracy, I am afraid that someone might suppose that I wanted to praise the American republic, and given this fear, I wanted to extend what I said about America to democracy in general. But I do not know if my intention is grasped.” [44.204.117.57] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 07:07 GMT) advantages of democracy...