Democracy in America

Tocqueville argues that it is an oversimplification to argue that democratization leads to a uniform or “common existence” as differences in opinion and preference will persist (577). He points out that he met many Americans but “never heard anyone claim that all of them should be brought to amuse themselves in the same manner or to enjoy themselves when intermingled in the same places” (577). Instead of developing universal amusements, Americans gather in small groups in private life to entertain and amuse themselves. Where aristocrats divide themselves with “immovable barriers,” American society relies on “small, almost invisible threads that are broken at every moment and are constantly changed from place to place” (578). American distinctions are cast as less rigid but no less real, and as an inevitable consequence of human behavior that democracy can change but not eradicate.

As he reflects on manners, Tocqueville notes that democracies tend to have less coherent ones, as there are no particular consequences to defying social codes. Democratic manners, such as they are, are not used to “adorn the natural and conceal it” as aristocratic behavior codes are (580). Aristocratic manners are a rapid casualty of the fall of aristocracy from social prominence. Tocqueville mourns this, as he calls aristocratic habits “no ordinary spectacle” (581). Tocqueville continues to support authentic emotion and more genuine modes of behavior while retaining his nostalgia for social norms of the past.

In seeking to explain American seriousness, Tocqueville argues that “gravity […] becomes a national habit” for Americans, as they are frequently preoccupied with politics (583). At the same time, they “nonetheless often allow themselves to be taken far indeed from the limits of reason by a sudden passion or an unreflective opinion, and they come to perform seriously acts of a singular absentmindedness” (583). Tocqueville argues that this national seriousness applies to too many matters at once, which gives Americans little time to truly understand many subjects. This “habit of inattention” explains their poor choices and is the “greatest vice of the American mind” (584). Tocqueville is not particularly optimistic about the American tendency to assume many tasks at once, though he offers no remedy for it.

Tocqueville is also critical of American national pride because it is constantly demanding praise from outsiders: “Their vanity is not only greedy, it is restive and envious. It grants nothing while demanding constantly. It is entreating and quarrelsome at the same time” (585). In contrast, aristocratic privileges are so apparent and great that they are rarely spoken of. This American tendency to boast is the product of social mobility and insecurity: Because they “almost always recently acquired the advantages they possess” (585) and may easily lose them again, Americans feel compelled to speak about their successes. This also occurred in aristocracies, whenever elites there found themselves dependent on the support of a monarch or patron. While Tocqueville regards American vanity as annoying and troubling, he admits that this particular insecurity is common to some social situations rather than being a defect of national character.