American Democracy

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the idea of democracy, when it is over-simplified to mean "majority rule", is the idea, which Tocqueville, Mills, and Godkin watched become corrupt as America matured. This paper explains Alexis de Tocqueville, one of the first to write prolifically about the American experiment, knew that a pure democracy was no guarantee of continued freedom. The author points out that Godkin, writing at the time of the Civil War, watched powerful individuals rise to leadership by influencing public opinion or gaining political power for themselves.

From the Paper:

"America was a wonderful experiment in freedom and democracy, which had never before been attempted by any nation. Nations either tried to give power to the people in order to prevent monarchies from rising to despotic power, or they allowed monarchs, despots and other sole figure heads to rise to power. In the case of allowing the people to rule, Europe and European's had learned many times that unbridled power in the hands of the people was no more just than the rule of despots. Mobs could become just as dictatorial as individual monarchs who sat upon golden thrones. Until America came into existence, nations could only expect to exist for a short time before political turmoil would create change of government, and the nation would start over again."

More papers on American Democracy:

• Book Review # 118114 : "The Rise of the American Democracy"
• Essay # 130891 : "Plato's 'Republic' and American Democracy"
• Comparison Essay # 2134 : "Safeguarding American Democracy"
• Analytical Essay # 59119 : "American Democracy"

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