Alexis De Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville was born in 1805 into an aristocratic family in France. He was a french sociologist and political theorist that traveled to the United States in 1831 to study its prisons and returned with a wealth of broader observations that he codified in "Democracy of America" (1835) which was one of the most influential books of the 19th century.

During his visit, he learned a lot about the United States and commended it for its "individualism" and its "equality." He warned about how the US's society of individuals "being assimilated to the rest, is lost in the crowd." Although his initial travels to America was to analyze the prison system in the US, he concluded that the "great democratic revolution" or a society adopting democracy is inevitable.

Observations on equality and individualism, Tocqueville's work remains a valuable explanation of not only America to Europeans but even to Americans themselves. His impression of America has carried on throughout time He had an influence for the better on the United States and not only did Americans approve of his influences on them but also Europeans.

"Tyranny of the majority" is a warning that "direct democracy" can destroy a government by giving those who are a majority in population the majority of power in government. This is why the Founding Fathers installed an Electoral College to make this rule out the majority and to make it equal to all of those who can be in government.

It opened the eyes to Americans to make sure that "equality" was a main focus that needed to be achieved and one of the most important aspects of American culture which is why the people in government all go through the same process to get to where they are an elected by people in the nation.

The ideas are a reflection of American society (but not a new reflection.) Both Levy and Tocqueville ignored the corruption of the U.S., including the prison system and Levy's attempt to capture the authenticity of the U.S. is stunted by his lack of knowledge of the current U.S. culture and sticking to the mentality and footsteps that Tocqueville took two decades before.