Tocqueville

In the book Democracy in America, Tocqueville describes why he believes democracy, especially in America, is going to turn into a despot. Tocqueville believes that despotism is going to rise in America because “when the inhabitant of a democratic country compares himself individually with all those about him, he feels with pride that he is the equal of any one of them; but when he comes to survey the totality of his fellows and to …

…fosters despotism because of its equality, but equality does not unavoidably lead to despotism. To combat this threat of despotism, democratic nations have created many different kinds of political and social associations. These associations help to resist despotism, because they bring the citizens together which reduces the isolation between them. As long as democratic nations continue creating association and try to rely less on the government, the greater their chances of resisting despotism will be.