However, in the pursuit of freedom and liberty through democratic government, the citizens of the state should not pursue an unattainable type of social equality. The United States, according to DeTocqueville, stresses equality. This stress on equality distinguishes America from the democracies that existed before it. Absolute equality is impossible to achieve and cannot be legislated. Rather than overly emphasize the majority rule as is commonly done in American democracy, citizens should value all opinions and allow for freedom of expression. American democracy also differs from other democracies in that American culture fosters individuality in a way that was never practiced in the past. Part of the essence of the American culture is self-determination, the sense of entitlement that many Americans continue to exhibit. This sense of entitlement gave rise to the notion of "manifest destiny." DeTocqueville also shows...
The sense of entitlement that stems from the cult of the individual is also evident in the rampant materialism that American society falls pray to. Because American citizens value material wealth and the absolute freedom to pursue it no matter what, the laws of the state begin to reflect those principles and social norms. As a result, DeTocqueville warns that American democracy could turn into subtle psychological tyranny.
Although De Tocqueville incorrectly stereotypes Americans as being inordinately serious in Book 3, Chapter 15, he pinpoints the essence of the typical American: "Americans, who almost always preserve a staid demeanor and a frigid air, nevertheless frequently allow themselves to be borne away, far beyond the bounds of reason, by a sudden passion or a hasty opinion and sometimes gravely commit strange absurdities." De Tocqueville calls this "ignorance which
At the same time, democracy allows people ith different views come together on a particular subject they share an opinion, state their mind and make a positive change. Q6. What does De Tocqueville mean by 'artificial solidarity'? Artificial solidarity resembles a tailored feeling of solidarity based on a foundation that is not real and one which was applied to a society without real background that would support it in a true
What he found, in contrast to Europe, was that the American social ethic was not based on aristocracy, and in fact Americans seemed to have a deep-seated fear and loathing of European titles (at least the middle and common classes). Instead, Americanism was based on a system in which hard work and money-making (e.g. aggressive capitalism) was the dominant ethic of the time. In this period of radical change and
America's constitution allowed for freedom of religion, which made religion centrally important in the lives of Americans in a way that it was often not given the state-enforced place of religion in Europe. Religions were diverse and thus a divisive force between citizens. American's 'dream of home ownership' and America's status as 'the most religious nation on earth,' underlines the importance of property and home ownership and the vital,
America was a wonderful experiment in freedom and democracy which had never before been attempted by any nation. Nations either tried to give power to the people in order to prevent monarchies from rising to despotic power, or they allowed monarchs, despots and other sole figure heads to rise to power. In the case of allowing the people to rule, Europe and European's had learned many times that unbridled power
Democracy in America: Analysis Of Government Actions In Recent Times Tocqueville visited the United States back in 1800s and it was then that he wrote his masterpiece, Democracy in America. This book contains details of what the philosopher witnessed during this trip. His views and thoughts were then collected to form a theory of politics and art in connection with democracy and presented them in this book. Tocqueville thus is considered one
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