Essay 47– “On Republican Institutions In The United States: What Are Their Chances of Longevity?” (Vol. 1 Pt. 2 Ch. 10, Subch. 4)
There is an intriguing passage in this essay about the difference between the American understanding of republican government and the European approach. De Tocqueville describes contrasting assumptions about the nature of rights and political accountability and affirms the connection between republican government and permanent and transcendental norms. Americans of his time defined a republic as based on majority control. This is the classic “republican principle” of the vote and rule by the majority. Of course, the delicate question is “majority of whom”? This is where republics over the millennia have differed, often profoundly.
That majority control is typically not exercised directly, as might occur in a townhall meeting, but through designated bodies of representatives.
“What one understands by republic in the United States is the slow and tranquil action of society on itself. It is a regular state really founded on the enlightened will of the people. It is a conciliating government, in which resolutions ripen for a long time, are discussed slowly and executed only when mature.”
James Madison, among many other supporters of the Constitution, had offered a similar description of American republican government during the ratification debates in the late 1780s.