Essay 64: Individualism In Democratic Countries (Vol. 2 Pt. 2 Ch. 2)

Essay Read by Constituting America Founder, Actress Janine Turner

The essays in our study reference the following edition of Democracy In America: University of Chicago Press – 1st edition translated by Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop. Today’s essay references pages 482 (start at Chapter 2 heading) – 484 (stop at Chapter 3 heading) of this edition of Democracy in America.

Individualism is an idea that was not known in the English speaking world until Democracy in America, and De Tocqueville’s first translator is credited with the first use of the word in the English language. The new word is a part of the new politics ushered in by the spread of democracy, and is one ground of De Tocqueville’s claim that America demonstrates the need for a new science of politics. The society created by the first generations of Americans resulted in this entirely new social condition, and De Tocqueville sets out to document its nature and its progress.  

The first thing he makes clear is that individualism is not selfishness, even though it looks like selfishness and can lead to selfishness. Selfishness is not confined to democratic society, in the way that individualism is, but is a vice that affects humans in general. A selfish person does not concern himself with society and its standards, but measures all social relations by his own desires.  This can happen anywhere. Individualism comes from the structure of democracy.  Aristocratic societies lead people to consider the needs and desires of those around them, but rarely think about humankind. Democracy leads people to care about mankind, but lose a sense of obligation to the particular people nearest them.  

Aristocratic society offers a natural way of combating selfishness, by visibly connecting everyone with his ancestors and descendants. Democracy “breaks the chain” of connection between people and generations and “sets each link apart.”  Individualism is the condition of people who recognize their duties to mankind but allow their connections to individuals to deteriorate.  

In aristocratic society, people recognize their duties because they are born to them. Status is inherited rather than chosen, and one’s place in the social hierarchy is fixed.  A democratic society puts all social relations in flux – status must be negotiated anew with each person or in each setting. But this negotiation becomes a mere necessity, and people soon tire of the need for constant bargaining.  

This leads to separation – each citizen wants to move “to one side with his family and friends.” Individualism means making one’s own club with a few like-minded people, and then controlling the membership so no one needs to bargain and no one feels uncomfortable. Without a care for the past or future, everyone can think of themselves as responsible to themselves alone. They need not care about the needs or interests of anyone who might be affected by their activities. Each person imagines that they are responsible for themselves, and that so long as each one looks out for themselves, society will go on without them. 

This is a nursery of bad habits, De Tocqueville believes, encouraged by the social and political conditions of democracy. Fortunately, as he emphasizes elsewhere, the American system has a cure for individualism. The first element is decentralization — people in local communities are required to work with their neighbors to define and solve common problems. 

The second element is religion, which qualifies Americans’ natural skepticism. It is restrained by the need to accept certain moral truths simply on trust.  This sets limits to the range of possible beliefs in American society and thus brings people closer to a common way of thinking.  

The third factor limiting the damage caused by individualism is the use of associations. From the time that Benjamin Franklin advocated the first public library and first volunteer fire company, Americans have recognized that people – without government – can work together to make their community better. Thus there are dozens of such civic associations in every community, from service clubs such as the Lions or Rotary to special purpose societies such as volunteer fire companies. The presence of these organizations means that even in their social life, Americans’ thoughts are being led outside of themselves. They are almost accidentally led to think about public issues.  

The final element is what De Tocqueville calls Americans’ philosophical method, and will later call “self-interest rightly understood.”  It leads Americans to recognize that common interests and needs affect them personally. Thus they are required to work with others to accomplish things that benefit everyone – the origin of the association. This prevents individualism from becoming isolating.  Americans might understand that they are attached to mankind, but self-interest leads them to work with the people in their own community.  

Americans have found ways of breaking the isolation and selfishness brought by individualism, but De Tocqueville seems to doubt that the correction can be permanent.  He ends the chapter on a note of doubt, which he will reinforce in the next chapter.  In his observation, Americans have – for the moment – managed the trick of making equality work in a dynamic society.  Since this book is aimed at Europeans, however, he turns to the question of what happens to bring about democratic social conditions.  

Jack Barlow is Charles A. Dana Professor of Politics, Emeritus, at Juniata College, where he has been on the faculty since 1991. He teaches courses on public law and political theory, and has written on Cicero and American political thought, most recently on Gouverneur Morris. In 2012, he published a collection of Morris’s writings, To Secure the Blessings of Liberty, with Liberty Press.

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