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 2, Chapters 13-17
Volume 2, Part 2, Chapters 13-17 Summary and Analysis: “Why the Americans Show Themselves So Restive in the Midst of Their Well-Being,” “How the Taste for Material Enjoyments Among Americans Is United with Love of Freedom and Care for Public Affairs,” “How Religious Beliefs at Times Turn the Souls of Americans Toward Immaterial Enjoyments,” “How the Excessive Love of Well-Being Can Be Harmful to Well-Being,” and “How in Times of Equality and Doubt It Is Important to Move Back the Object of Human Actions”
Tocqueville notes that the American pursuit of well-being does not lead to tranquil mental states. Instead, he observes, “It is a strange thing to see with what sort of feverish ardor Americans pursue well-being and how they show themselves constantly tormented by a vague fear of not having chosen the shortest route that can lead to it” (511-12). Americans are constantly chasing success and greatness, restless because of the “brevity of life” (512). As equality grows, more citizens believe they can achieve great things, but they are surrounded by those who share this view and advancement becomes more difficult when many people are striving for the same goal. Some equality always exists, once a society has transitioned, but it will never be perfect enough to quiet internal restlessness. This explains “the disgust with life that sometimes seizes them in the midst of an easy and tranquil existence” (514).
In discussing the relationship between material freedom and politics, Tocqueville argues that “men of democratic times need to be free in order to procure more easily for themselves the material enjoyments for which they constantly sigh” (515), but that these desires can be co-opted by a tyrannical leader if no care is taken to develop popular understandings of freedom.
Related Titles
By Alexis de Tocqueville
