Will I love Democracy in America?

De Tocqueville’s book is the first and probably still the best examination of the genius of America. At times like these, it's good to be reminded of what makes America work. Frankl would firmly understand and concur. The essence of America is our responsibility. Frankl would break it up into two words: “response-ability.”

I first read this book when I was in college. I have read it at least once in every subsequent year. It’s nice to be reminded of who we are. Ultimately, De Tocqueville teaches that this country will be whatever we make it. If we don’t like… show more.

French observer Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in its pioneer days and distilled the new nation’s most distinctive qualities. The bulwark of our democracy, he concluded, is citizens who voluntarily pool their labor, money, and expertise to improve society. “Americans of all ages, stations in life, and all types of dispositions are forever forming associations....At the head of any new undertaking where in France you would find the government, or in England some great lord, in the United States you are sure to find an association.”

What impressed the French visitor about voluntary action in the U.S. was not… show more.

Even though it was written in the nineteenth century, few books have ever matched Alexis de Tocqueville’s description of the strengths and weaknesses of the American system of government.

Most interesting to me is his insistence that, for all its democratic precepts, there are few defenses against tyranny in the United States. Although people more often focus on his account of the tyranny of the majority or democratic despotism, he is equally clear on how racism creates kinds of tyranny and that the American emphasis on economics are also ways that tyranny can take root.

I learn something new each… show more.