第55章

ChapterIII:ThatTheSentimentsOfDemocraticNationsAccordWithTheirOpinionsInLeadingThemToConcentratePoliticalPowerIfitbetruethat，inagesofequality，menreadilyadoptthenotionofagreatcentralpower，itcannotbedoubtedontheotherhandthattheirhabitsandsentimentspredisposethemtorecognizesuchapowerandtogiveittheirsupport。Thismaybedemonstratedinafewwords，asthegreaterpartofthereasons，towhichthefactmaybeattributed，havebeenpreviouslystated。

*aAsthemenwhoinhabitdemocraticcountrieshavenosuperiors，noinferiors，andnohabitualornecessarypartnersintheirundertakings，theyreadilyfallbackuponthemselvesandconsiderthemselvesasbeingsapart。Ihadoccasiontopointthisoutatconsiderablelengthintreatingofindividualism。Hencesuchmencannever，withoutaneffort，tearthemselvesfromtheirprivateaffairstoengageinpublicbusiness;theirnaturalbiasleadsthemtoabandonthelattertothesolevisibleandpermanentrepresentativeoftheinterestsofthecommunity，thatistosay，totheState。Notonlyaretheynaturallywantinginatasteforpublicbusiness，buttheyhavefrequentlynotimetoattendtoit。Privatelifeissobusyindemocraticperiods，soexcited，sofullofwishesandofwork，thathardlyanyenergyorleisureremainstoeachindividualforpubliclife。Iamthelastmantocontendthatthesepropensitiesareunconquerable，sincemychiefobjectinwritingthisbookhasbeentocombatthem。Ionlymaintainthatatthepresentdayasecretpowerisfosteringtheminthehumanheart，andthatiftheyarenotcheckedtheywillwhollyovergrowit。

[Footnotea:SeeAppendixW。]

Ihavealsohadoccasiontoshowhowtheincreasingloveofwell—being，andthefluctuatingcharacterofproperty，causedemocraticnationstodreadallviolentdisturbance。Theloveofpublictranquillityisfrequentlytheonlypassionwhichthesenationsretain，anditbecomesmoreactiveandpowerfulamongsttheminproportionasallotherpassionsdroopanddie。Thisnaturallydisposesthemembersofthecommunityconstantlytogiveortosurrenderadditionalrightstothecentralpower，whichaloneseemstobeinterestedindefendingthembythesamemeansthatitusestodefenditself。Asinagesofequalitynomaniscompelledtolendhisassistancetohisfellow—men，andnonehasanyrighttoexpectmuchsupportfromthem，everyoneisatonceindependentandpowerless。Thesetwoconditions，whichmustneverbeeitherseparatelyconsideredorconfoundedtogether，inspirethecitizenofademocraticcountrywithverycontrarypropensities。Hisindependencefillshimwithself—relianceandprideamongsthisequals;hisdebilitymakeshimfeelfromtimetotimethewantofsomeoutwardassistance，whichhecannotexpectfromanyofthem，becausetheyareallimpotentandunsympathizing。Inthispredicamenthenaturallyturnshiseyestothatimposingpowerwhichalonerisesabovethelevelofuniversaldepression。Ofthatpowerhiswantsandespeciallyhisdesirescontinuallyremindhim，untilheultimatelyviewsitasthesoleandnecessarysupportofhisownweakness。*bThismaymorecompletelyexplainwhatfrequentlytakesplaceindemocraticcountries，wheretheverymenwhoaresoimpatientofsuperiorspatientlysubmittoamaster，exhibitingatoncetheirprideandtheirservility。

[Footnoteb:Indemocraticcommunitiesnothingbutthecentralpowerhasanystabilityinitspositionoranypermanenceinitsundertakings。Allthemembersofsocietyareinceaselessstirandtransformation。Nowitisinthenatureofallgovernmentstoseekconstantlytoenlargetheirsphereofaction;henceitisalmostimpossiblethatsuchagovernmentshouldnotultimatelysucceed，becauseitactswithafixedprincipleandaconstantwill，uponmen，whoseposition，whosenotions，andwhosedesiresareincontinualvacillation。Itfrequentlyhappensthatthemembersofthecommunitypromotetheinfluenceofthecentralpowerwithoutintendingit。Democraticagesareperiodsofexperiment，innovation，andadventure。Atsuchtimestherearealwaysamultitudeofmenengagedindifficultornovelundertakings，whichtheyfollowalone，withoutcaringfortheirfellowmen。Suchpersonsmaybereadytoadmit，asageneralprinciple，thatthepublicauthorityoughtnottointerfereinprivateconcerns;but，byanexceptiontothatrule，eachofthemcravesforitsassistanceintheparticularconcernonwhichheisengaged，andseekstodrawupontheinfluenceofthegovernmentforhisownbenefit，thoughhewouldrestrictitonallotheroccasions。Ifalargenumberofmenapplythisparticularexceptiontoagreatvarietyofdifferentpurposes，thesphereofthecentralpowerextendsinsensiblyinalldirections，althougheachofthemwishesittobecircumscribed。

Thusademocraticgovernmentincreasesitspowersimplybythefactofitspermanence。Timeisonitsside;everyincidentbefriendsit;thepassionsofindividualsunconsciouslypromoteit;anditmaybeasserted，thattheolderademocraticcommunityis，themorecentralizedwillitsgovernmentbecome。]

Thehatredwhichmenbeartoprivilegeincreasesinproportionasprivilegesbecomemorescarceandlessconsiderable，sothatdemocraticpassionswouldseemtoburnmostfiercelyattheverytimewhentheyhaveleastfuel。Ihavealreadygiventhereasonofthisphenomenon。Whenallconditionsareunequal，noinequalityissogreatastooffendtheeye;

whereastheslightestdissimilarityisodiousinthemidstofgeneraluniformity:themorecompleteisthisuniformity，themoreinsupportabledoesthesightofsuchadifferencebecome。

Henceitisnaturalthattheloveofequalityshouldconstantlyincreasetogetherwithequalityitself，andthatitshouldgrowbywhatitfeedsupon。Thisnever—dying，ever—kindlinghatred，whichsetsademocraticpeopleagainstthesmallestprivileges，ispeculiarlyfavorabletothegradualconcentrationofallpoliticalrightsinthehandsoftherepresentativeoftheStatealone。Thesovereign，beingnecessarilyandincontestablyaboveallthecitizens，excitesnottheirenvy，andeachofthemthinksthathestripshisequalsoftheprerogativewhichheconcedestothecrown。Themanofademocraticageisextremelyreluctanttoobeyhisneighborwhoishisequal;herefusestoacknowledgeinsuchapersonabilitysuperiortohisown;hemistrustshisjustice，andisjealousofhispower;hefearsandhecontemnshim;andhelovescontinuallytoremindhimofthecommondependenceinwhichbothofthemstandtothesamemaster。Everycentralpowerwhichfollowsitsnaturaltendenciescourtsandencouragestheprincipleofequality;forequalitysingularlyfacilitates，extends，andsecurestheinfluenceofacentralpower。

Inlikemanneritmaybesaidthateverycentralgovernmentworshipsuniformity:uniformityrelievesitfrominquiryintoaninfinitenumberofsmalldetailswhichmustbeattendedtoifrulesweretobeadaptedtomen，insteadofindiscriminatelysubjectingmentorules:thusthegovernmentlikeswhatthecitizenslike，andnaturallyhateswhattheyhate。Thesecommonsentiments，which，indemocraticnations，constantlyunitethesovereignandeverymemberofthecommunityinoneandthesameconviction，establishasecretandlastingsympathybetweenthem。

Thefaultsofthegovernmentarepardonedforthesakeofitstastes;publicconfidenceisonlyreluctantlywithdrawninthemidstevenofitsexcessesanditserrors，anditisrestoredatthefirstcall。Democraticnationsoftenhatethoseinwhosehandsthecentralpowerisvested;buttheyalwayslovethatpoweritself。

Thus，bytwoseparatepaths，Ihavereachedthesameconclusion。Ihaveshownthattheprincipleofequalitysuggeststomenthenotionofasole，uniform，andstronggovernment:I

havenowshownthattheprincipleofequalityimpartstothematasteforit。Togovernmentsofthiskindthenationsofouragearethereforetending。Theyaredrawnthitherbythenaturalinclinationofmindandheart;andinordertoreachthatresult，itisenoughthattheydonotcheckthemselvesintheircourse。

Iamofopinion，that，inthedemocraticageswhichareopeninguponus，individualindependenceandlocallibertieswilleverbetheproduceofartificialcontrivance;thatcentralizationwillbethenaturalformofgovernment。*c[Footnotec:SeeAppendixX。]

ChapterIV:OfCertainPeculiarAndAccidentalCausesWhichEitherLeadAPeopleToCompleteCentralizationOfGovernment，OrWhichDivertThemFromItIfalldemocraticnationsareinstinctivelyledtothecentralizationofgovernment，theytendtothisresultinanunequalmanner。Thisdependsontheparticularcircumstanceswhichmaypromoteorpreventthenaturalconsequencesofthatstateofsociety—circumstanceswhichareexceedinglynumerous;

butIshallonlyadverttoafewofthem。Amongstmenwhohavelivedfreelongbeforetheybecameequal，thetendenciesderivedfromfreeinstitutionscombat，toacertainextent，thepropensitiessuperinducedbytheprincipleofequality;andalthoughthecentralpowermayincreaseitsprivilegesamongstsuchapeople，theprivatemembersofsuchacommunitywillneverentirelyforfeittheirindependence。Butwhentheequalityofconditionsgrowsupamongstapeoplewhichhasneverknown，orhaslongceasedtoknow，whatfreedomis（andsuchisthecaseupontheContinentofEurope），astheformerhabitsofthenationaresuddenlycombined，bysomesortofnaturalattraction，withthenovelhabitsandprinciplesengenderedbythestateofsociety，allpowersseemspontaneouslytorushtothecentre。

Thesepowersaccumulatetherewithastonishingrapidity，andtheStateinstantlyattainstheutmostlimitsofitsstrength，whilstprivatepersonsallowthemselvestosinkassuddenlytothelowestdegreeofweakness。

TheEnglishwhoemigratedthreehundredyearsagotofoundademocraticcommonwealthontheshoresoftheNewWorld，hadalllearnedtotakeapartinpublicaffairsintheirmother—country;

theywereconversantwithtrialbyjury;theywereaccustomedtolibertyofspeechandofthepress—topersonalfreedom，tothenotionofrightsandthepracticeofassertingthem。TheycarriedwiththemtoAmericathesefreeinstitutionsandmanlycustoms，andtheseinstitutionspreservedthemagainsttheencroachmentsoftheState。ThusamongsttheAmericansitisfreedomwhichisold—equalityisofcomparativelymoderndate。ThereverseisoccurringinEurope，whereequality，introducedbyabsolutepowerandundertheruleofkings，wasalreadyinfusedintothehabitsofnationslongbeforefreedomhadenteredintotheirconceptions。

Ihavesaidthatamongstdemocraticnationsthenotionofgovernmentnaturallypresentsitselftothemindundertheformofasoleandcentralpower，andthatthenotionofintermediatepowersisnotfamiliartothem。Thisispeculiarlyapplicabletothedemocraticnationswhichhavewitnessedthetriumphoftheprincipleofequalitybymeansofaviolentrevolution。Astheclasseswhichmanagedlocalaffairshavebeensuddenlysweptawaybythestorm，andastheconfusedmasswhichremainshasasyetneithertheorganizationnorthehabitswhichfitittoassumetheadministrationofthesesameaffairs，theStatealoneseemscapableoftakinguponitselfallthedetailsofgovernment，andcentralizationbecomes，asitwere，theunavoidablestateofthecount