Alexis De Tocqueville Democracy In America

In the assertion, Democracy In America, written by Alexis De Tocqueville, a French diplomat, political scientist, and historian, Tocqueville addresses that we, Americans, do have a political science well-formulated to modern democracy and democratic society, and thus, lacking the necessary tools to effectively understand and manage this new form of government. Tocqueville also suggests democracy and equality are not entirely ‘good things’ as they may leave long-lasting negative impacts in society, to which it may not be necessarily prepared for. In his study, Tocqueville described the movement toward a democratic society and the idea of equality in America to be a universal phenomenon that could not be ceased; in this realization, Tocqueville …show more content…
As legislature is a direct representation of the will of the people, democracies tend to grant the legislative branch of government a majority of the power, in comparison to the executive and judicial branches; Tocqueville asserts that without sufficient checks and balances, the legislative power can readily become tyrannical. Alongside this, Tocqueville also addresses the power of the legislature’s ability to allow the president to be re-elected, which evidently, weakens the independence of the executive branch. Tocqueville claims that if the president wishes to be re-elected, he/she will lose much of his/her ability to make independent decisions based off his/her judgement, instead however, he/she will base his/her decisions on whether it will appease the people, despite if they may have the knowledge to judge what is in the best interest of the state, evidently, increasing the danger of the legislative power to become tyrannical. Another evident weakness Tocqueville discusses in Democracy of America is the direct election of representatives and their limited duration in office; these provisions are mediocre and contradictory. The direct election of representatives results in a poorly selected, mediocre, body of representatives, whom are incapable of acting accordingly to their best judgement and are instead, concerned with public …show more content…
Throughout the assertion, Tocqueville discussed the several weaknesses, that even thriving democracies, like the United States, for instance, are on the border of tyranny. Specifically, one of his arguments, in which he addresses the existing dominance of the legislative power; believing that the law must hold the capability to limit the power of the ruler; is what I find most relevant to today’s debate. In discussing checks & balances, we see this specifically in the “separation of powers,” which demonstrates the distribution of governmental powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government; this concept is one of the most important parts of the American system, as each branch of government must ensure that no one branch becomes more powerful than another — however, throughout history, it has been shown that when the opportunity for power presents itself specifically to an individual or a group, the flaw of human nature, makes it difficult any individual to resist. For example, we see and have seen this when one party dominates the two houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives; for instance, during President Barrack Obama’s 2008-2010 term; both the Senate and the House of Representatives were dominated by the Democratic Party, including the executive branch. With