In this post, I will highlight Alexis de Tocqueville’s famous book “Democracy in America” and then completely denounce it.
1. “Democracy in America”
1831, a 26-year-old Frenchman named Alexis de Tocqueville visited America, traveling throughout the country and taking extensive notes about his observations and reflections. He returned to France in less than two years and published a book entitled De la démocratie en Amerique, as a summary of his American tour. The book was translated into English and entitled Democracy in America. It is now considered an early work and a must-read on democracy, sociology, and political science.
Below is an excerpt from Tocqueville’s book “Democracy in America”:
The American people, through their chosen representatives who were instructed by their wisdom and experience and were supported by their virtues – cultivated, purified and ennobled by self-reliance and the love of God – had matured, in the excellent wisdom of their counsels, a new plan of government, which embraced every security for their liberties and equal rights and privileges to all in the pursuit of happiness.
What a generous assessment of America by a young Frenchman at that time!
While Tocqueville was obviously impressed with America, especially its tremendous potential, he was oblivious to the plight of America’s many problems at that time, to the point that I doubt whether he truly understood America and democracy. Two examples:
- “The American people” he referred to were actually only a small portion of the population, as they included some rich white males only. Men without [enough] property, women, and minorities were excluded from choosing “their” representatives, due to the lack of voting rights (U.S. voting rights timeline).
- Slavery: It actually became much worse after the American Revolution. For more, read What is the American Revolution, anyway (V2)?
To best understand Tocqueville and his book, let’s better understand France and America around that time …
2. France and America
Read American Revolution vs. French Revolution.
After the French Revolution, France endured one “lost century” (France in the long 19th century (1815-1914)). It was during the first quarter of the “lost century” that Tocqueville published his famous book. No wonder he was so impressed with America, in stark contrast with his homeland France.
Unfortunately, Tocqueville mixed America, a large country of huge potential, with democracy, a proven failure throughout human history without a single example of lasting success (e.g., 200 years). He overrated democracy for America’s newfound success, hyping it as a new and valid form of government.
3. America and democracy
Despite many problems at its inception, America rapidly thrived to become the largest economy in the world by 1890 (surpassing China). It has not looked back ever since.
After WWII, America thrived so spectacularly that by 1989, when the Cold War was destined to end with the collapse of the USSR in 1991, an American scholar named Francis Fukuyama published an article entitled End of History? hyping democracy as possibly the permanent winner of mankind’s social evolution.
4. American Democracy
Democracy, by my simple definition of one person, one vote without discrimination (e.g., race, gender, or religion), did not exist in America until 1965 (Voting Rights Act of 1965). It appeared to have succeeded until the turn of the 21st century when the bottom fell out. Since then, America has been failing so precipitously that it is questionable whether American democracy will even outlast Soviet communism (1917-1991) in longevity (Longevity: American Democracy vs. Soviet Communism).
For more, read American democracy: what is it and what’s wrong with it?
5. What’s wrong with democracy proponents?
The biggest problem with Tocqueville, as well as the likes of Fukuyama, is their complete failure to truly recognize what America is!
What, then, is America?
America was built on a pile of lies, with the mother of all lies being “All men are created equal”!
For more, read Colonial America 1776-2030.
6. Tocqueville vs. me
Overall, Tocqueville did a good job for his time. But the passage of time is the best judge for everything, including his book, America, and democracy.
Unlike Tocqueville who came to America in 1831 as a tourist, I came to America in 1985 as a Ph.D. student with an intention to stay. Furthermore, unlike Tocqueville who saw his country France lose her way during his lifetime, I not only have watched my native country China come back spectacularly over the past few decades, but also have been fully taking advantage of it by running an import-export business between China and America over the past 18 years.
Most importantly, unlike Tocqueville who spent less than two years in America as a tourist, it has taken me, a U.S. citizen since 1997, more than 30 years to begin to truly gain some insight into the intricate relationships between communism, socialism, capitalism, democracy, China, America, and the rest of the world. Finally, I write in English, while Tocqueville wrote in French, with at least some meaning lost in the translation …
In summary, I have much more experience than Tocqueville when writing about America. Older may indeed be wiser in this case, especially when I am also about 200 years more recent than Tocqueville.
For more, read My American Dream Has Come True!
7. Closing
On democracy, it is time to replace Tocqueville’s book with my third book: American Democracy: Why is it failing & how to fix it?
For a more complete school of thought on democracy, America, and China, read History 2.0 – China’s Comeback vs. America’s Decline.
