Democracy in America

Alexis de Tocqueville's visit to the United States in the early part of the nineteenth century prompted his work Democracy in America, in which he expressed the ability to make democracy work. Throughout his travels Tocqueville noted that private interest and personal gain motivated the actions of most Americans, which in turn cultivated a strong sense of individualism. Tocqueville believed that this individualism would soon "sap the virtue of public life" (395) and create a despotism …

…which Tocqueville noted, Americans are able to balance individualism with notions of community. The love which peoples in democratic nations have for both equality and liberty, results in Americans being motivated by ideals of personal gain and private interest. Tocqueville does not imply that these rights of liberty and equality should be expelled, rather he believes that a political system aimed toward the benefit of the common good would diminish the individualism in American democracy.