Tocqueville and Weber on the Sociological Origins of Citizenship: The Political Culture of American Democracy

Abstract

Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America is considered today to be perhaps the most profound analysis of American society ever written. Far more than a ‘political commentary’, this classic focuses upon the ‘manners and mores’ — the customs — at the very foundation of the political culture of the United States. Two major themes, both of which originate from Tocqueville’s focus upon the far-ranging differences between ‘aristocratic and democratic nations’ and the ways in which the ‘equality of conditions’ widely influences American society, stand at the centre of his analysis: a concern regarding a potential danger of a ‘tyranny of the majority’ and an emphasis upon the necessity of widespread civil associations if democracy is to remain stable.