89 pages • 2 hours read
Alexis de TocquevilleDemocracy in America
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1835A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Volume 1, Part 1, Introduction
Volume 1, Part 1, Chapters 1-2
Volume 1, Part 1, Chapters 3-4
Volume 1, Part 1, Chapter 5
Volume 1, Part 1, Chapters 6-7
Volume 1, Part 1, Chapter 8
Volume 1, Part 2, Chapters 1-2
Volume 1, Part 2, Chapters 3-4
Volume 1, Part 2, Chapter 5
Volume 1, Part 2, Chapter 6
Volume 1, Part 2, Chapter 7
Volume 1, Part 2, Chapter 8
Volume 1, Part 2, Chapters 9-10
Volume 2, Notice
Volume 2, Part 1, Chapters 1-2
Volume 2, Part 1, Chapters 3-5
Volume 2, Part 1, Chapters 6-8
Volume 2, Part 1, Chapters 9-10
Volume 2, Part 1, Chapters 11-12
Volume 2, Part 1, Chapters 13-15
Volume 2, Part 1, Chapters 16-19
Volume 2, Part 1, Chapters 20-21
Volume 2, Part 2, Chapters 1-3
Volume 2, Part 2, Chapters 4-7
Volume 2, Part 2, Chapters 8-12
Volume 2, Part 2, Chapters 13-17
Volume 2, Part 2, Chapters 18-20
Volume 2, Part 3, Chapters 1-4
Volume 2, Part 3, Chapters 5-7
Volume 2, Part 3, Chapters 8-12
Volume 2, Part 3, Chapters 13-16
Volume 2, Part 3, Chapters 17-20
Volume 2, Part 3, Chapters 21-26
Volume 2, Part 4, Chapters 1-3
Volume 2, Part 4, Chapters 4-6
Volume 2, Part 4, Chapters 7-8
Key Figures
Themes
Index of Terms
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Volume 2, Part 1, Chapters 3-5
Volume 2, Part 1, Chapters 3-5 Summary and Analysis: “Why the Americans Show More Aptitude and Taste for General Ideas Than Their English Fathers,” “Why the Americans Have Never Been as Passionate as the French for General Ideas in Political Matters,” and “How, in the United States, Religion Knows How to Make Use of Democratic Instincts”
Tocqueville concedes that only God can understand every individual, and dependence on general ideas is typical of most people. He is personally ambivalent about this, observing, “General ideas are admirable in that they permit the human mind to bring rapid judgments to a great number of objects at one time; but on the other hand, they never provide it with anything but incomplete notions” (411). Generalities increase understanding, but only to a point. Tocqueville observes, however, that general ways of thinking grow as democracy does, because individuals become more alike and citizens feel they resemble one another.
As they turn away from traditions that come from class structures, individuals will form opinions based on humanity as a whole. Social and economic life in a democracy further lends itself to this, as “[m]en who live in centuries of equality have much curiosity and little leisure; their life is so practical, so complicated, so agitated, so active that little time remains to them for thinking” (414). In democracy individuals seek quick gratification, which further enhances their dependence on overarching concepts.
Tocqueville argues that the French have been interested in political generalities precisely because few people can wield actual political power.
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By Alexis de Tocqueville
