Essay 93: Why Great Revolutions Will Happen Less Often (Vol. 2 Pt. 3 Ch. 21)

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 606 (start at chapteer 21 heading) – 617 (stop at chapter 22 heading) of this edition of Democracy in America.

As Rosenberg and Birdzell discuss in their book, How the West Grew Rich, over the course of centuries the economic structure of Western Europe gradually moved from a feudal system to what is essentially market capitalism. De Tocqueville’s observation of how economic and political systems are related leads him to the observation that a society that has made the transition to a market-based economy, where individuals are able to escape poverty and become wealthy, will be politically stable and that in the America of his time, which had made this transition, democracy will surely not be overthrown through a violent revolution.

De Tocqueville notes that “almost every revolution that has changed the shape of nations has been made to consolidate or destroy inequality.” When talking about inequality he is referring to a political and economic system where the impoverished masses do not have a mechanism to improve their economic condition without a revolution to overthrow the aristocracy.

It is interesting that the Civil War was in a sense a revolution that attempted to “consolidate inequality” of the black population. De Tocqueville notes that if there is a revolution in America it will be due to the inequality of blacks.

The American economy of De Tocqueville’s time had evolved into a market capitalist system. Because such a system is based on voluntary exchange, you cannot force anyone to buy your product or service. When any exchange happens both parties must be better off. It also requires property rights.  I need to know that when we make an exchange, the property we are exchanging belongs to the person we are making the trade with. Property rights also establish a sphere of free action for the individual where government cannot interfere. An example is the 4th amendment of the American constitution which prohibits unlawful search and seizure. 

A market system requires a government that can enforce property rights. However, the government will be limited to the protection of property rights.  The condition of the rule of law is that there must be certainty regarding what government can do and there must be a sense of justice with the law.

De Tocqueville makes the point that violent revolutions become rare when the people are able to obtain property, and that trade (or voluntary exchange) “is the natural enemy of all violent passions.” The more property is widely held and distributed the less likely there is to be a revolution, since a revolution is likely to threaten the average person’s property holdings. 

Ludwig von Mises in his 1927 book, Liberalism in the Classical Tradition, explained that capitalism is the only economic system that can produce wealth for the masses. This system that allows people to escape poverty is what De Tocqueville observed in the America of the mid-19th century.

The Fraser Foundation has an annual Index of Economic Freedom where countries are ranked according to how supportive they are of economic freedom. In the countries that are in the top 25% of the rankings, the income of people in the bottom 10% of the income distribution is eight times greater than those in the bottom 10% of the income distribution in countries in the bottom 25% of the index. Following Tocqueville’s logic, we would not expect revolutions to occur in countries such as Canada, the U.S. or Switzerland, whereas we might expect them in places like Sudan or Libya.

There is a good deal of mobility of wealth in market capitalism. An American Enterprise Institute paper found that 73% of Americans are in the top 20% of the income distribution for at least a year. Thus, if you are at the bottom of the income distribution, you will still be opposed to a violent revolution. As De Tocqueville put it in discussing that the effect of trade on individuals: “it leads them to want to manage their own affairs and teaches them how to succeed therein. Hence it makes them inclined to liberty but disinclined to revolution.” 

Democracy is a relatively inexpensive way to change governments. No government can survive if it does not have the support of the people. Democracy provides a way to change governments that does not require the enormous costs of revolution. The connection between a market economy, democracy, and a peaceful society that De Tocqueville observed still holds today.

Dr. Gary Wolfram serves as the William E. Simon Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Hillsdale College and President of Hillsdale Policy Group, a consulting firm specializing in taxation and policy analysis. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1976. His writings have appeared in numerous publications, including National Review, Real Clear Markets, Investor’s Business Daily, and American Thinker. Dr. Wolfram has been named Hillsdale College Professor of the Year and received the Emily Daugherty award for teaching excellence.

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