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. Leave a comment in the blog below and automatically be entered in our weekly drawing for a free copy of the book!

In the introduction to their translation of Alexis De Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, the renowned Harvard historian, Harvey Mansfield, and his late wife, Delba Winthrop, describe the volume as “at once the best book ever written on democracy and the best book ever written on America.” Though written almost two centuries ago, the book’s insights on American culture and exceptionalism could not be more timely. Though coming in at 700+ pages in the Mansfield/Winthrop edited edition, it’s well worth an investment of time and study by every American.

Alexis De Tocqueville was a French aristocrat and government official who landed in the United States in 1831 with his friend, Gustave de Beaumont, ostensibly to study America’s prison system, but his plans soon change as he encounters a culture so different than his own. In the first paragraph of the book, De Tocqueville lays the foundation for his overarching argument about the country’s exceptional nature by declaring that what struck him most about America in those first few days of the visit was the “equality of conditions”. He goes on to argue that “this enormous influence this primary fact exerts on the course of society; it gives a certain direction to public spirit, a certain turn to the laws…and particular habits to the governed.” By “equality of conditions”, De Tocqueville did not mean to say that everyone lived in equal circumstances, but something closer to “equality of opportunity.”

From this firm foundation, De Tocqueville perceives the major cultural factor (what he calls “mores”) that appears to be necessary to support a country where equal opportunity reigned as the central economic dynamic. He quickly discovers that Americans hold to a doctrine he calls “self-interest rightly understood” – a worldview that dictates a certain degree of reliance on neighbors and community in order to accomplish tasks ranging from building churches to roadways. Remember, at this stage in America’s history, the federal government had little power to determine local affairs. As De Tocqueville writes, “they show with complacency how an enlightened regard for themselves constantly prompts them to assist each other, and inclines them willingly to sacrifice a portion of their time and property,” for the common good.

Comparing with his native Europe, De Tocqueville is also shocked to see religion and government mix in a way that’s actually beneficial rather than a source of bloody conflict. Unlike Europe, America did not have a national religion, but ironically, this contributed to a flourishing of faith in the country. From developing Americans’ political skills by serving in local church administrative councils, to working with faith-based nonprofits, De Tocqueville concludes, “Religion, which, among Americans, never mixes directly in the government of society should therefore be considered as the first of their political institutions; for if it does not give them the taste for freedom, it singularly facilitates their use of it.”

This willingness of Americans to collaborate through nonprofit and ad hoc civic organizations is what De Tocqueville describes as “associativeness”, and it’s a major distinction between this burgeoning republic and Europe. From temperance associations to foreign missionary support organizations, De Tocqueville sees Americans put their faith into action even as they respond to local needs that would have been the purview of government in Europe. He observes, “Everywhere that, at the head of a new undertaking, you see the government in France and a great lord in England, count on it that you will perceive an association in the United States.”

As we conclude our whirlwind review of Democracy in America, it’s worth noting that De Tocqueville’s last chapters in the book can be seen as prophetic in describing the future of American (and other democracies’) society. It’s not an optimistic perspective, and one grounded in the Frenchman’s belief that with the increasing wealth he foresees coming to this country, Americans will gradually withdraw from their associations, their faith, and the community-spirit. De Tocqueville looks to the future: “There is, in fact, a very perilous passage in the life of democratic peoples. When the taste for material enjoyments develops in one of these peoples more rapidly than enlightenment and the habits of freedom.”

De Tocqueville fears that as Americans earn the material benefits of freedom, they will look to government not to protect our liberties, but to protect our “stuff”. He describes this dynamic: “each of them desires that it [central government] aid him as an exception in the special affair that reoccupies him, and he seeks to attract the action of the government to his side, all the while wanting to shrink it for everyone else.”

It is here where De Tocqueville wonders whether the “self-interest rightly understood”, which drew Americans into civil society and community would become “self-interest wrongly understood”- a selfishness and withdrawal from the public square. For future leaders, De Tocqueville sees that “individual independence and local liberties will always be the product of art.” Are we seeing these trendlines today? I think these concerns, and the importance of citizen engagement are vital to consider during this election year, and beyond.

Pete Peterson is the Braun Family Dean’s Chair of Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy. Prior to that he was the executive director of the School’s Davenport Institute, which trains local government officials to improve their public meeting processes. Pete speaks and writes widely on civic participation, viewpoint diversity in higher education, and the increasing role of technology in local government.

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