The political system of the United States has a problem. Not only do its citizens have a dim view of their government, but they are less inclined to trust it and more likely to be hostile toward it. There are reasons for this, some of which date to the founding and include the Constitution’s wrangling over representation in the House and Senate; the odd system of electing presidents and lifetime appointments for Supreme Court justices; and a structural distrust of masses that has persisted even as industrial progress made the masses more familiar with mechanical devices that sped up production and reduced the need for manual labor.
More recent factors include scandals and corruption that erode public confidence in institutions; efforts to limit dissent by restricting electoral access (like voting hours, polling locations, and gerrymandering); and a rise in the polarization of politics that has deepened ideological divisions between Democrats and Republicans and between urban and rural communities. These conditions have contributed to a widespread sense that government is no longer capable of doing the things most people want it to do.
But the most significant reason democracy in america is not working as it should is more fundamental than any of these problems. Essentially, American citizens have become satisfied with the idea that their social equality is inexorable; they see no need to continue their active participation in self-government. De Tocville feared that if Americans grew complacent about the need for democratic participation, government would grow more powerful and in a kindly sort of way cover society with “a network of petty, complicated rules.”
Instead of giving up on democracy, we should fight to save it from these forces. But before we do, it’s important to understand the nature of the problems and how they have come about.
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This excerpt was first published in the February 2024 issue of The American Prospect. To receive the magazine, and more like it, in your inbox each week, subscribe today.
The excerpt is taken from Chapter 6 of Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville, edited by Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop, published by the University of Chicago Press. Copyright
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This article is part of a series on the challenges to democracy in the 21st century. To find other articles in this series, click here.